Mississippi Family Law Blog

Jury awards $9 million dollars against paramour for alienation of affection Cynthia Shackelford sued her husband's mistress for having an affair with her husband and breaking up their marriage. Shackelford's husband, an attorney, met Anne Lundquist, the paramour, while providing legal services to Guilford College, where Lundquist was the dean of campus life. What is interesting about the case is that the Lundquists are not yet divorced. While divorce proceedings are pending, the divorce has not been finalized, according to the article. A jury in the Guilford County District Court awarded Ms. Shackelford nine million dollars for alienation of affection, criminal conversion and intentionally and recklessly causing severe emotional distress. Most states don't allow these types of lawsuits, but North Carolina is one of a handful of states that still recognizes the tort of alienation of affection. Mississippi is another one. The question now is whether Ms. Shackelford can recover the judgment. That is the problem with bringing these lawsuits as most individuals don't have enough assets to pay such a large judgment. According to the attorney handling the case, he says his client will collect some of the judgment and the remainder will serve to vindicate his client. Information provided by Robert Kisselburgh, Mississippi Divorce Lawyer

Canton, Mississippi woman killed by ex-husband A Canton, Mississippi man, Joseph Reith, allegedly beat his ex-wife with an iron wrench and stabbed her to death Tuesday evening in Canton, Mississippi. The Clarion-Ledger states that the couple were arguing about the custody of their 5-year-old son. According to the Madison County Chancery Court records, Reith filed for divorce from his wife in May, 2009 and a Judgment for Divorce was granted on November 5, 2009. Now a five-year-old child is without a mother and his father is probably headed to jail. This case highlights the problems of domestic violence in family law cases. Emotions run high, especially when it comes to the custody of children, and there are some who resort to violence to settle the disputes. If you are involved in a divorce or custody proceedings and there is any threat of violence against you, there are laws that can protect you. If you have been threatened, get help immediately. For agencies that can help you, see my previous posts or call your local law enforcement agency and file charges. Information provided by Robert Kisselburgh, Mississippi Divorce Attorney

Child support hearing results in egg thrown at judge A Chicago area man didn't much care for the judge presiding over his child support hearing and threw a raw egg at the judge. He was immediately taken into custody, according to the article, and is serving seven days for criminal contempt. So the question is how the man got through security with an egg in his pocket. While not ordinarily a weapon, how do you explain to security officials why you have a raw egg while you are going to court. Information provided by Robert Kisselburgh, Mississippi Divorce Attorney

Divided Mississippi Court of Appeals upholds equitable division of property in void marriage In my last post, I spoke about the Chancery Court annulling a 37-year marriage because the wife failed to divorce her first husband when she married her second husband. But the question remained, why did the current husband, after 37 years of marriage, not agree to a divorce rather than fight for an annulment. The answer was money. If the husband agreed to a divorce, then the marital estate would be divided on an equitable basis. However, if there was no valid marriage in the first place, the husband could argue the wife was not entitled to an equitable division of the property. That is what he did. Mississippi law, according to the husband, required a party to a void marriage to have entered into that marriage in good faith before the chancellor could award any form of equitable relief. His position was the wife did not enter into this marriage in good faith given she knew she was not divorced from her first husband at the time of the marriage. However, the Chancellor, nor the Court of Appeals, was swayed by this argument. It held that "good faith is not required under Mississippi law to support an equitable distribution of property acquired during a void marriage." The Court said, "where parties live together without benefit of marriage and where, through their joint efforts, accumulate real property or personal property, or both, a party having no legal title nevertheless acquires rights to an equitable share enforceable at law.... Such a remedy is only available where 'the couples had ... either been married or contended to have married.'"

Economic downturn means less divorces A recent news article confirms what most divorce attorneys know--the recession has reduced the number of divorces. Happier couples? No, just more couples who cannot afford to get divorced given the amount of debt, the problem of supporting two households and the costs of paying for a divorce. Check out the article here. Information provided by Robert Kisselburgh, Mississippi Divorce Attorney

Dodger owners spending more on divorce than infield salaries Celebrity, high-profile divorces always bring out the worst in some folks. Well, the owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers are going through a rather nasty, public divorce and have testified in depositions that the legal and accountant fees for the divorce could be as high as 19 million dollars. Unbelievable. In one recent hearing, seven attorneys showed up, according to a news report. Both Frank and Jamie McCourt have hired multiple law firms to represent them in their divorce. If they end up spending that much money on lawyers and accountants, it will be one of the most expensive divorces in California history. Information provided by Robert Kisselburgh, Mississippi Divorce Attorney

Constitutional showdown expected over Judge's ruling prohibiting father from taking daughter to church An Illinois man going through a divorce was ordered by the Court not expose his daughter "to any other religion than the Jewish religion during his visitation." Seems Dad, who is Catholic, wanted to test this order and took his three-year-old daughter to Holy Name Cathedral. Another judge will now rule on whether he should be held in contempt for violating the court's order. However, a Motion to Dismiss filed by the father's attorney argues that the Order is vague as it fails to define what encompasses the "Jewish religion". The law is clear that in order to be held in contempt, it must be clear what they were prohibited from doing. More importantly, the motion argues that the Court is unable to make the determination as to what constitutes "Jewish religion" as a result of the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine. Essentially, this doctrine prohibits a court from examining matters of religious doctrine as they are protected from government interference by the First Amendment to U.S. Constitution. Thus, the Court cannot say what is or is not the Jewish religion. And if it cannot determine what is the Jewish religion, then it cannot determine whether the father violated the court order. I imagine the Court's ruling will not be the last we hear of this case. The story was previously on the news. See the video below. Reported by Robert Kisselburgh, Mississippi Divorce Attorney

Cohabitation prior to marriage has little impact on success of marriage A recently released study found that living with your fiance prior to marriage has little impact on whether the marriage will last or not. Although previous research claimed couples living together prior to marriage increased their chances for divorce, this study showed a different result. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the study was based on data from almost 13,000 men and women. The study found divorce rates for those who move in together after deciding to marry are very similar to couples who never lived together before marriage. However, divorce rates were higher for those who lived together prior to deciding to marry. Source: New York Times Information provided by Robert Kisselburgh, Mississippi Divorce Lawyer

Ex-fiance sues to get engagement ring back A New York doctor is suing his ex-fiance to get the $58,000+ engagement ring back after the wedding was called off. The doctor claims his ex-fiance is a pro at agreeing to marry others, get the goods, break off the engagement, and refuse to return the jewelry and other gifts. Read the story here. Reported by: Robert Kisselburgh, Mississippi Divorce Attorney