Mississippi Family Law Blog

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

Mississippi father involved in custody battle for daughter

WLBT has a story about a Betonia, Mississippi father trying to keep his daughter here in Mississippi despite a Utah court ordering him to return the daughter to her mother and her step-father, who allegedly hit her causing bruising and threatened to kill her.

Click here to read the story.

Recession in Mississippi impacts child support payments

Here is a common scenario: Husband and wife divorce with two children. At the time of the divorce, husband is making $100,000.00 a year. The couple reaches an agreement on child support based upon the husband's income. However, two years later, the husband loses his job and his new job only pays $50,000 a year. The question is whether he can get his child support reduced given his income is 50% less than what it was when the child support was originally calculated. The short answer is yes.

In Mississippi, child support can be modified if it can be shown that the reduction in income for the spouse paying child support was not voluntary and could not have been anticipated at the time of the original child support order. However, in order to get the child support reduced, the spouse paying child support must file a modification of child support with the Court or get the ex-spouse to agree to the modification and have the Court approve it. In either case, the Court must approve the reduction in child support.

In a recent case, I represented a father who suffered a dramatic reduction in his income. He called me soon after his income was reduced. We filed a Complaint for Modification, had a hearing, and the judge ruled in our favor. While the action was pending, the father continued to pay the previous amounts owed so he was not found in contempt.

Unfortunately, I receive a lot of calls from non-custodial parents who have lost their job or had their pay reduced. In many instances, they have got behind on child support payments. While they can still seek a modification for future amounts owed, the child support already owed cannot be modified.

If you have lost your job or had your pay cut at work and you pay child support, act quickly in seeking a modification. Waiting and missing child support payments will just cost you more money and could result in stiffer penalties from the court.

The Kisselburgh Law Firm represents individuals in Mississippi who are divorcing or involved in child custody and child support modifications. Contact us now at 601-936-4040 to schedule an appointment to discuss your legal rights.

Judge send Tupelo, Mississippi man to jail for failure to pay child support

Roosevelt Linston, a former professional basketball player in the European League, was jailed after he failed to pay his child support, according to the Clarion Ledger. Linston was sentenced in May of last year to five years for failing to pay back child support of $16,500.00. However, the judge suspended the original sentence, but Linston still failed to pay the child support. He was jailed until such time as he pays the $16,500.00 in full.

Reported by: Robert Kisselburgh, Mississippi Divorce Attorney

Senate kills bill to abolish alienation of affection in Mississippi

A bill intended to abolish the tort of alienation of affection in Mississippi died in committee. SB2057 was referred to the Senate Judiciary committee and died in committee. So the tort will live on in Mississippi. Paramours beware.

Reported by Robert Kisselburgh, Mississippi Divorce Lawyer

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.’”

Continue reading "Void marriage--Who gets the property in Mississippi?" »

37 year "marriage" annulled in Mississippi

After 37 years of marriage and rearing four children, the wife files for divorce. Husband responds with a claim of annulment, saying he and his wife were never legally married given she failed to divorce her first husband. Sound crazy. Well, it happened in a Desoto County Chancery Court and the Mississippi Court of Appeals handed down its decision in this case this week.

In Cotton v. Cotton, the Mississippi Court of Appeals affirmed a decision concerning property division in an annulled marriage. The Chancellor granted the annulment because the wife was never legally divorced from her first husband, who she married at 16, and therefore her marriage to her current spouse, at age 23, was void. Despite the fact that the couple had lived as husband and wife for 37 years and raised four children, their marriage legally never occurred. Harsh? Not really.

In Mississippi, the Mississippi Code Sec. 93-7-1 states that a person may obtain an annulment of the marriage, as opposed to divorce, if the following causes existed on the date of the marriage:

1. Incurable impotency;
2. Insanity;
3. Failure to meet licensure requirements, if there has been no cohabitation;
4. Incapacity to consent due to age or lack of understanding;
5. Physical incapacity to enter into the marriage state;
6. Consent obtained by force or fraud; or
7. The wife was pregnant by another on the date of the marriage without husband's knowledge.

For grounds 4 through 7, the suit for annulment must be brought within six months of the time the ground is or should have been discovered. For ground 2 above, the suit must be brought within six months from the date of the marriage.

However, bigamous or incestuous marriages are void marriages and may be annulled at any time. This is how after 37 years of marriage, Mr. Cotton was able to obtain an annulment given Ms. Cotton had not divorced her previous husband at the time she married Mr. Cotton.

Why, after 37 years of marriage, would the husband ask for an annulment as opposed to agreeing to a divorce? Well, the answer appears to be money. The husband argued that given there never was a marriage, the couple's property should not be equitably divided as is required in the case of married couple's divorcing. The Court did not rule on the issue of the annulment as the wife failed to raise the issue in cross-appeal. The husband only appealed the court's division of the property. In my next post, I will discuss the court's ruling concerning the division of the property in a void marriage.

Mississippi attorney Robert Kisselburgh represents clients in divorces throughout the state of Mississippi. If you have questions or would like to discuss your case, contact us at 877-601-4040, 601-936-4040, or contact us online.

Billboard photos could cause problems in divorce

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Usually that statement is in the context of a wife scorned by her husband. However, over the last week, billboards appeared in New York, San Francisco, Atlanta, and other cities showing a romantic photograph of the co-president of Oracle, Charles E. Phillips, Jr., with a woman. The woman was not his wife, but his ex-mistress. Mr. Phillips came out on Thursday to say the woman on the billboards, YaVaughnie Wilkins, was his mistress of 8 1/2 years, who he has since ended a relationship with.

The first thought is Mrs. Phillips spent some money to embarrass and get back at her husband. Well, in this case, the scorned lover was the ex-mistress, according to the New York Times, who paid to have the billboards placed in an attempt to embarrass Mr. Phillips and no doubt cause him problems with his current divorce proceedings. Seems Mr. Phillips has another girlfriend and Ms. Wilkins was not happy about being sent packing. Ouch.

I think the divorce settlement discussions just heated up with Mr. and Mrs. Phillips.

Reported by: Robert Kisselburgh, Mississippi Divorce Lawyer

Mississippi House says no to adding gambling as grounds for divorce

By an overwhelming vote of 74 to 40, the Mississippi House of Representatives killed a bill that would have added compulsive gambling as the 13th fault based ground for divorce in Mississippi.

Reported by Robert Kisselburgh, Jackson Mississippi Divorce Attorney