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

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

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.’”

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.

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

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

Madison County, Mississippi Chancery Clerk's office was the first county in Mississippi to offer e-filing and online access to Chancery Court records. It has been a resounding success, in large part due to Chancery Clerk, Arthur Johnston, and his office. Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice William Waller, Jr. recently announced the e-filing program would be expanded to Warren County and Scott County Chancery Courts. Hopefully, this service will soon be available in Circuit Courts.

The search for Tiger Woods is over. He is in Mississippi. Unfortunately, it is not to play golf. Sources say Tiger Woods is in Hattiesburg, Mississippi where he took up residency at Pine Grove Behavioral Health and Addiction Service for treatment of sex addiction. It remains to be seem if this is part of a deal to appease his wife or truly treat a problem.

Information provided by: Robert Kisselburgh, Mississippi Divorce Attorney

In a follow-up to an earlier post, famous mystery writer Nevada Barr was back in a Hinds County Chancery courtroom today to face possible sanctions for lying under oath and destruction of evidence in her previous divorce case. According to the Clarion-Ledger, Barr admits she lied about her affair during her deposition. However, she also admitted she destroyed her computer when the other side sought its production.

This is serious stuff and the call for whether she should be sanctioned came from the Mississippi Supreme Court in its decision on Barr's case. Then presiding Justice Oliver Diaz wrote:

"When faced with such egregious misconduct, courts are obligated to consider sanctions that are severe enough to deter others from pursuing similar courses of action. The chancellor in this case did not satisfy that obligation and abused his discretion by not addressing Nevada's misconduct."

Chancery Judge Dewayne Thomas will decide Barr's fate.

Source: Clarion-Ledger

Reported by Robert Kisselburgh, Mississippi Divorce Attorney

A Ridgeland, Mississippi woman is in jail today for shooting her husband in the face last night. According to reports, the married couple got into a domestic dispute and the wife shot the husband in the face with a small caliber revolver. The husband was able to call 911 even though the bullet was lodged in his jaw. He is currently hospitalized at University Medical Center while the wife has taken up new residence at the Madison County detention center.

Reported by Robert Kisselburgh, Mississippi Divorce Lawyer

Source: Clarion-Ledger

A Washington man was arrested after paying a man $5,000 to kill his wife after she filed for divorce. According to the article, the wife feared her husband due to previous acts of violence.

This article highlights an important issue--domestic violence. If you are a victim of domestic violence, get help now. There are a number of agencies that can help you. Don’t stay in a home where you are a victim of abuse and end up being a statistic in next year’s domestic violence report. The following agencies in Mississippi can help you:

Mississippi Center for Violence Prevention Crisis Line: 1-800-266-4198

Mississippi Coalition Against Domestic Violence Crisis Line: 1-800-898-3234 or click here to contact them online.

Catholic Charities Hotline: (601) 366-0222 or 1-800-273-9012

Mississippi Attorney General's Domestic Violence Prevention Unit: (601) 359-4251

Jackson Police Department Crisis Intervention Units: (601) 960-1433 (Westland Plaza, 813 Ellis Ave.); and (601) 960-1389 (327 E. Pascagoula St., Suite 504)

National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-SAFE (7233)

A judge in Madison County, Mississippi ruled that a Mobile, Alabama man has until April 12, 2010 to pay back child support of $20,000.00 or face jail time. The case was prosecuted by the Mississippi Attorney General's office. Click here for more information.

Colorado did it and now Indiana is trying to do it. Where is Mississippi in enacting legislation that would require casinos to check a database to see if the winners owe child support? If they owe child support, they don't get the winnings. So why are the casinos fighting this legislation? Simple. They don't want to upset their customers. But it is time to use all available measures to collect child support. The winners in this legislation are the children in need of child support and the taxpayers who financially assist those children not receiving child support. The only loser is the winner of the jackpot. Sorry, you should have kept current on your child support.

I previous spoke about this issue in the Mississippi Business Journal and hope the legislature in Mississippi is listening. Let's get on board with a great idea.

Source: ABC News

Faye Miller was having some marital problems and went to counseling to avoid a divorce. Her therapist suggested she do some digging on the internet concerning her fears about her husband. He was a podiatrist who she thought "was working a lot of hours and away at medical conferences." It turns out he was away a lot given he had 2 other wives, one in California and one in Canada. Her research turned up that the doctor was married to one woman when he married Faye and then married another woman in Canada after they were married. Well, the battle is on. She has filed for an annulment and also seeks child support for their two children. The husband claims it was just a misunderstanding. You can read more about the case here.

The Kisselburgh Law Firm represents Mississippi residents in divorces. If you or a loved one are contemplating a divorce, call now and schedule an appointment to discuss your legal rights.