How to tell your spouse you want a divorce
The Today Show ran a series on how to tell your spouse you want a divorce. The video is below and contains some useful information. If you are contemplating a divorce, click here to get your free copy of the Mississippi Divorce Guide and call the Kisselburgh Law Firm to see how we can help you through this difficult time.
Memorial Day--Remembering those who made the ultimate sacrifice
On this Memorial Day, we pay tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice by providing us the freedom to do what we do. Many brave men and women are not with us today while others are defending us home and abroad. Take time to remember their sacrifices.
Cohabitation does not equal condonation
Continuing on with our discussion of condonation as a defense to fault-based divorce in Mississippi, some cases have held the defense of condonation does not apply to those continuing offenses such as cruel and inhumane treatment and habitual and excessive drug use.
In a case from DeSoto County, Mississippi, the chancellor denied a divorce to a husband whose wife had abused drugs for a number of years. The court said because the husband had sex with her one time after she had moved back in, he condoned her drug abuse. The Court of Appeals disagreed and reversed the case holding that it did not believe condonation applied to continuous behavior, such as habitual drug abuse, and even if it did, one act of sexual intercourse after the wife abused drugs was insufficient to prevent the divorce when the wife continued to abuse drugs after the sexual encounter.
Continue reading "Condonation—when it is not a defense to divorce in Mississippi?" »
Is resumption of sexual relations enough?
Last time I spoke generally about condonation as a defense to fault-based divorce in Mississippi. Let’s take a look at its application in some specific divorce cases. In the case of adultery, condonation means the innocent spouse forgives the spouse who committed adultery and the spouses resume normal marital relations. However, the analysis is not so straightforward, especially given some recent cases.
In a recent case out of Hinds County, Mississippi, the court found there was insufficient proof of condonation where the husband had sexual relations with his wife after he knew she committed adultery. The Court stated that when the husband had sex with his wife that one time, he “made it clear” to her “before she arrived at his home that he still wanted a divorce…. He even asked” his wife “whether she would use their encounter against him at some later point.”
In my next post, I will talk about condonation applying to those continuing offenses such as cruel and inhuman treatment and habitual drug use.
The “I forgive you” defense
The second, and most commonly used, defense to a fault-based divorce is condonation. Essentially, it means forgiveness. The Mississippi Supreme Court explained condonation as:
“forgiveness of a martial offense theretofore committed, on condition that it will not be repeated and that the offender will thereafter treat the forgiving party with conjugal kindness. So long as the offending spouse observes the conditions on which the condonation rests, the unoffending spouse may not complain of the condoned offense.”
Lee v. Lee, 232 So.2d 370, 373 (Miss. 1970)
Continue reading "Condonation—a defense to divorce in Mississippi?" »
The “You did it too” defense
The first defense to a divorce is recrimination. Recrimination “is founded on the basis that the equal guilt of a complainant bars his/her right to divorce, and the principal consideration is that the complainant must come into court with clean hands.”
In an interesting case, the Mississippi Supreme Court explained the defense. The case involved a husband who was allegedly impotent and liked to dress up occasionally in women’s clothes. The wife filed for divorce based upon cruel and inhuman treatment, but the chancellor denied the divorce. The Supreme Court found sufficient grounds based upon the husband’s conduct and its impact on the wife’s health. However, at trial there was testimony that the wife was seen sitting on another man’s lap and kissing him. So the husband raised the defense of recrimination. As the Court explained, the defense did not apply. In order for the defense of recrimination to apply, the other spouse must also commit an offense that is a fault-based ground for divorce. An example would be if the husband could have proven the wife committed adultery, recrimination would have applied. Given her conduct did not rise to that level, the defense had no application to the case.
Continue reading "Recrimination—a defense to divorce in Mississippi?" »
Defenses to Divorce in Mississippi
In previous posts I spoke about the different types of divorces in Mississippi. The first, irreconcilable differences, is when the parties agree to divorce. Remember, Mississippi does not have true no-fault divorce—that is one party can get a divorce even though the other party does not agree to divorce. Rather, if both parties do not agree to divorce, the person requesting the divorce must prove a fault-based ground, the second type of divorce. There are twelve statutory fault-based grounds and can be found here.
When a spouse seeks a divorce based upon fault, the other spouse may defend the divorce by asserting one of the defenses to a divorce. There are four general defenses to fault-based divorces, although two have little or no application today. The two commonly used defenses, recrimination and condonation, are the ones I’ll talk about in the following posts.
Adultery during separation provided grounds for divorce
In a recent case out of Jackson County, Mississippi, the Court of Appeals upheld a chancellor's decision to grant a divorce based on adultery even though the husband and the alleged paramour denied the affair. The case illustrates three points.
The first is that you don't need direct evidence of adultery. Rather, in Mississippi, you must prove by clear and convincing evidence that the person had "an adulterous inclination coupled with an opportunity to consummate the inclination." The adulterous inclination "may be proven by showing either an infatuation with a particular person or a general adulterous propensity."
Continue reading "Mississippi case highlights conduct during separation" »
Kosciusko man going to jail for not paying child support
A Kosciusko, Mississippi man was sentenced to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay $68,215.87 in back child support. According to the article, he will serve 2 of the 10 years in prison for failing to pay the child support. The Mississippi attorney general's office prosecuted the case. It is good to see Mississippi in the news prosecuting those who fail to uphold their financial responsibilities to their children.
Free Mississippi Divorce Guide
For those contemplating a divorce or just considering their options, you might find the answers to your questions in my recently completed C.D.--the Mississippi Divorce Guide. In the C.D., I discuss:
If interested in obtaining this free C.D., click on this page.
