Mississippi Family Law Blog

Teens in Texas must take parenting class

With teen pregnancy a real problem in our society, Texas decided to require high school students in public schools to take a class on parenting and paternity awareness. The class, according to the article, will teach teenagers to calculate child support payments as well as the cost associated with raising a baby. The classes are aimed at preventing the high incident of teen pregnancy and are definitely a step in the right direction.

Rankin County grandfather gets two life sentences after killings over child custody dispute

A Rankin County, Mississippi man pled guilty to shooting and killing his step-daughter and her husband during a child-custody dispute. The judge sentenced him to two life sentences. According to the Clarion-Ledger article, the step-daughter and her husband were attempting to pick up their 10-year-old son after a Hinds County Chancellor granted them custody of their child following a custody dispute. The man's wife is awaiting trial on murder charges.

Author Nevada Barr could be facing a bit of trouble. In her Jackson, Mississippi divorce case, she admitted lying under oath about an affair. Further, she destroyed a computer after her deposition when her husband's attorney wanted her to produce it. But this was not some ordinary destruction. As Nevada testified, she "took a cold chisel and a hatchet; I tore it apart; I then took all of the pieces that were inside of it and I put them in a metal box; I burned it by pouring gasoline over it, and I shoveled it into a plastic bag and I dumped it in a bayou."

The Mississippi Supreme Court was not amused. In a 5-3 opinion, it sent the case back to the chancery court with instructions that the chancellor "must consider imposition of sanctions and/or a referral to the district attorney to consider criminal prosecution for perjury and destruction of evidence."

Divorced parents not always required to pay for children's college expenses in Mississippi

In a case last week out of Washington County, Mississippi, the Mississippi Supreme Court reversed a decision requiring a father to pay 75% of his son's future college expenses. As the Court reiterated, "when a [parent's] financial ability is ample to provide a college education and the child shows an aptitude for such, the court may in its discretion, after hearing, require the [parent] to provide such education." However, "the parental duty to send a child to college is not absolute; rather it is dependent upon proof and circumstances of each case."

The parties failed to put on any testimony as to the relationship between the father and son [yes, a good relationship between the parent and child is a factor], the son's aptitude for college, when he anticipated attending college, where he was going to college, and what specific college expenses were included in the order. Given the lack of evidence, the Court reversed the Chancellor's order.

While divorced parents can be required to pay a portion of their child's college expenses until the child is emancipated, it is not automatic. The Court must make specific findings unless the parties agree to the payments themselves and the Court approves the agreement.