Mississippi Family Law Blog

No alimony for wife after mulit-million dollar property settlement

In a case this week out of Jackson County, Mississippi, the parties, who were married for 33 years, agreed to a divorce and a property settlement which divided the martial estate of just over 5.1 million dollars almost equally. But the parties submitted the matter of alimony to the chancellor for decision. The chancellor awarded the wife $7,000 per month in periodic alimony. On the first appeal, the Mississippi Court of Appeals reversed the chancellor's decision because she failed to justify the alimony award and asked her to make specific findings as to why the wife needed the alimony after getting more than one-half of a multi-million dollar estate.

Well, it seems the Mississippi Court of Appeals was again displeased with the chancellor's ruling when she again awarded permanent periodic alimony in the amount of $7,000 a month to the wife. The Court of Appeals, in a 6-4 decision, reversed and rendered saying that the wife was not entitled to alimony as the chancellor failed to justify the award.

Continue reading "Mississippi Court tells wife no alimony after multi-million dollar property award" »

Posted by Robert Kisselburgh | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Alimony

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Man looks to eBay to start over following divorce

According to a recent article, an Australian man is attempting to start fresh following his divorce. He put all of his worldly possessions, plus more, up for sale on eBay. The 44-year-old is selling his car, home, jet ski, friends, hobbies, and job. Although offers have reached at least $1.7 million, no word on whether those bids are valid. This gives a whole new meaning to starting over following a divorce.

Posted by Robert Kisselburgh | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Divorce , Hodgepodge

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Judge overrules father's discipline of 12-year-old

From across the border comes a story out of Quebec (Canada for those rusty in their geography) where a judge overruled a father who sought to prevent his daughter from going on a school trip. According to the article, a divorced father had custody of his 12-year-old daughter. Dad cut off daughter's internet access after she chatted on a website he blocked. She then used a friend's computer to post "inappropriate pictures of herself" to this website. After Dad found out, he told the daughter she couldn't go on a three-day school trip. Not at all happy with the punishment, daughter moves in with Mom. What does Mom do? She says daughter can go on the trip. One problem--the school required the consent of both parents or a court order. Dad refused to give his consent, so Mom and daughter took their case to court.

In an unbelievable ruling, the Judge sided with the mother and daughter, overruling the father's discipline. The father is appealing the ruling and says he refuses to take his daughter back "because he has no authority over her." This is definitely a case of a judge overstepping the boundaries between parenting and judicial oversight of child custody matters. Hopefully, the appellate court will reverse the decision.

Posted by Robert Kisselburgh | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Child Custody & Visitation , Family Law News

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Man paying alimony to ex-wife who underwent sex change operation

Here is a bizarre story. A man and woman marry. After a bit of time, the wife starts cutting her hair shorter, gets some tattoos, injects herself with testosterone, voice gets deeper, and she now has to shave her beard. Divorce ensues--there's a big surprise. The husband is ordered to pay alimony. According to the article, the ex-husband finds out after the divorce that his ex-wife underwent a sex change operation and is now a man. The husband sought to terminate alimony payments based upon the sex change, but the court said no. Bizarre story to say the least.

Posted by Robert Kisselburgh | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Hodgepodge

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Child Custody--a child's perspective

Child custody is a difficult part of divorce. I've listened to a number of divorced parents talk about the problems they have in getting the ex-spouse to abide by the terms of a divorce decree when it comes to child custody. Usually, one parent says the decree says I get them and that is the way it is. However, did the parent stop to consider what was going on in the child's life? While having both parents active in a child's life is good for them, parents also need to realize that sometimes you need to work around those problems for the child's sake.

What follows is a portion of a recently published article entitled, "The Halloween Story: A Lesson for Divorced or Separated Parents. The story goes like this:

Continue reading "Divorce through a child's eyes" »

Posted by Robert Kisselburgh | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Child Custody & Visitation

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First Wives World website

For divorced women, or women going through divorce, there is another website for you to share your thoughts, whether it be frustration or jubilation, or seek out answers to those lingering questions. First Wives World says it is a "community for, and by, divorced women." The site offers articles on a litany of subjects from dating styles of divorced women to dealing with children during a divorce.

Posted by Robert Kisselburgh | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Divorce

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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.

Posted by Robert Kisselburgh | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Divorce

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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.

Posted by Robert Kisselburgh | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Hodgepodge

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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?" »

Posted by Robert Kisselburgh | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Divorce

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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.

Posted by Robert Kisselburgh | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Divorce

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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)

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Posted by Robert Kisselburgh | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Divorce

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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?" »

Posted by Robert Kisselburgh | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Divorce

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