Judge to Husband--check or jail!
An man upset with the judge's ruling awarding his ex-wife $5,000 in lump sum alimony decided to seek some revenge. He delivered the $5,000 in a barrel containing 500,000 pennies. The ex-wife was not amused nor was the judge. Judge's order--"Pay by cashier's check or go to jail."
Divorce can be financially and emotionally draining. Emotions often run high during divorce litigation and these emotions create roadblocks to resolution. The longer a case drags on, the more expensive it becomes. The cost of even a one or two day trial can be staggering.
More and more couples in Mississippi are resolving their cases by mediation well before their trial date, saving thousands of dollars and many months of heartache and stress. Divorce mediation is an alternative to a trial. Parties can voluntarily choose to mediate or be ordered by the court to participate in mediation. A mediator is a neutral third party who listens to each person’s positions and concerns and helps them find a mutually acceptable common ground on which to resolve their divorce, custody or support litigation.
Continue reading "Mediation in a Divorce Case" »
What is standard visitation?
Although shared physical custody is occurring more now than in the past, the typical child custody situation following divorce in Mississippi is an order of joint legal custody (decision-making authority) and primary physical custody to one parent with reasonable visitation to the other.
But what is “reasonable”? Most courts in Mississippi do not have written guidelines for visitation schedules. Reasonable visitation varies from case to case and the chancellor has a lot of discretion as to what is reasonable. The paramount test is “what is in the best interest of the child” and that can change depending on the age of the child. Some chancellors feel longer visits for younger children are not in the best interest of the child. Additionally, if you work the third shift Tuesday through Saturday or if you work four ten hour shifts at the hospital on varying days, an “every other weekend” approach may not work for you and your children.
Continue reading "Standard Visitation in Mississippi divorces" »
Prenuptial Agreements--protecting your assets before divorce
Contrary to popular belief, prenuptial agreements aren’t only for the rich and famous. A prenuptial agreement (also called a premarital or antenuptial agreement – just to make things more confusing!) can be very useful for many couples, especially those who have had time to accumulate any assets at all and for those with children from previous relationships.
Generally, in the event of a divorce, a Mississippi court will divide “marital assets” between husband and wife in a fair and equitable manner. Property acquired or accumulated during the course of the marriage is considered “marital.” Inheritances and the assets that each party owned prior to the marriage are usually considered “non-marital” property which will be set aside to its original owner in a divorce.
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It may be time to review your Will
Chances are that you have a Will somewhere that you had drawn up when your children were born. Depending on how long ago that was, you should probably dig it out, review it and then talk to an attorney about updating your estate plan to account for your current family situation.
It may be that nothing much has changed. Or you may have gotten a divorce several years back, even gotten remarried but never changed your estate planning documents to reflect these major life changes.
Continue reading "Estate Planning after a Second Marriage" »
Working together for your children--joint or shared physical custody
Shared physical custody of children following a divorce has become more prevalent over the last decade. While joint legal custody (which provides joint decision-making authority for the child) is quite often ordered by the courts, joint physical custody is still relatively unusual.
Joint or shared physical custody means that each parent has significant periods of physical custody of the child. The schedule could allow for monthly, weekly or other regular transitions between parents. The court takes a very close look at the circumstances to determine if such an arrangement would be in the best interest of the child.
Continue reading "Joint or Shared Physical Custody" »
Think you have it bad?
A Nigerian man has been ordered to divorce 82 of his 86 wives or face the death penalty. Under the law, he is only entitled to have 4 wives. Amazing. Click here to read this strange story.
