Another legislative session another attempt to align MS family law with 48 other states…a change that is needed.
Pending legislation seeks to make changes to existing divorce law in Mississippi. House bill No. 1046 proposes to to amend Sec. 93-5-1 to delete the requirement of willful and obstinate from the ground of Desertion and provide a new 13th ground of Irretrievable Breakdown.
Thirteenth.Upon application of either party, the court may grant a divorce when the court finds there has been an irretrievable breakdown of the marriage and that further attempts at reconciliation are impractical or futile and not in the best interests of the parties or family.
Fourth. * * * Continued * * * desertion for the space of one (1) year.
This is needed in MS law as we are 1 of 2 states in the Country that does not recognize a person’s right to a divorce. Mississippi law has created a financial blackmail niche area of practice. This occurs when a party does not have provable grounds for divorce and the other party will not consent. It happens more than you’d think.
Also, opponents indicate this will somehow open divorce floodgates in Mississippi. I contend it will not. MS has the 13th highest divorce rate in the country despite the most stringent laws.
Similar efforts have previously failed every year. Below are just a few blogged here.
Oftentimes we hear that the ends justify the means. However, in the legal world it does not…or should not.
Cutting corners and taking shortcuts should not be the roadmap to success. The law can be complex, convoluted and sometimes contrary to good common-sense. However, the laws, rules, processes and procedures are there to protect you, be it as the litigant, the attorney and even the Judge.
When liberties are taken with the rights of other’s – even for the “right” reasons – it impugns the integrity of the Court, the trust in the system and offends Constitutional safeguards we swore to uphold and defend.
If you are a lawyer and/or a judge and you are wondering if this is pointed at you, the answer is yes.
Follow the law. Strictly. Follow the procedure. Honestly. Demand compliance. Demand competency. 99 times out of 100 you can still achieve the same result, but when you take the easy way out it begins the slippery slope into fiefdoms and dictatorships that degrade a society, degrade the people’s confidence in the Court and actually contributes to rigged systems.
Larry Lee has built a career on making a difference. He was a collegiate basketball athlete, a law partner with Dossett, Magruder & Montgomery, served as interim Dean of the Law School and a fulltime Professor of Law.
Larry Lee, long-term Professor of Law at Mississippi College School of Law, retired in 2021 from full time education. Despite his retirement, he has continued to support MC Law.
Having taught tax law for over forty years, Prof. Lee prepared young lawyers to handle tax law matters regarding general tax code regulations, unfiled returns, wage garnishments, property liens, and compromises with the IRS, all as part of a complex field.
Prof. Lee served as the interim Dean of the Law School and accomplished such feats of admitting me as a law student!
Prof. Lee also had the privilege of being a part of the Game of Change. This game is hailed as the NCAA matchup that defied the color barrier, between Mississippi State University and the Loyola Ramblers, an integrated team, during the civil rights era.
The Mississippi State team “snuck” out of the state to play the integrated team, Loyola, in Michigan. A matchup opposed by Mississippi elected officials. Lee, served as a decoy, at the airport expecting to get arrested for even attempting to travel out of state for this game. In a recounting of the story, Lee said upon arrival at the airport, the sheriff sent to serve an injunction had not arrived. The “decoys” phoned the starters, who made there way to the airport to depart for the game.
MSU was defeated in a hard fought game 61-51. Despite that loss, MSU won the SEC that year, and finished ranked #6 in the country. Loyola made a run in the tournament, finishing the season at 24-2, and a #3 ranking in the country.
Today is the 51st anniversary of that game and an appropriate time to announce that MC Law is honoring Prof. Larry Lee on March 21, 2024 at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.
Stay tuned for details and information on how you can be a part of celebrating Larry Lee.
I have written several times on sometimes just not being ready. I have seen multiple instances of person just not being ready…
What are the signs of Not Being Ready?
Things are moving TOO Fast.
The divorce process is actually fairly slow in Mississippi. It is typically at least 60 days with the average cases taking closer to 90 days, if uncontested. If contested, the case could take 6-18 months. A few take even longer!
Things are TOO Emotional.
Of course divorce is highly emotional. In some respects you may never “get over it.” However, the best results require that you treat the financial aspects as a business transaction. If you are so focused on the emotion, getting even or some other aspect, you’ll regret it later.
It makes NO Sense.
If you are in a brain fog and cannot explain in plain terms what the lawyer has explained to you, you may not be ready. I don’t expect you to know every legal term of art, but there are some very important concepts you need to understand.
These are just a few indicators of Not being ready. Be on the lookout for these signs in your spouse and/or yourself. Recognizing these issues will allow for them to be better handled.
Matthew Thompson is a Divorce and Custody lawyer in Mississippi and warns you that negotiating a divorce when you are not ready may result in regret.
The internet is truly the wild west of modern day society. Social media, electronic communications and instant access have made daily life easier and more painful!
Hacked= use a computer to gain unauthorized access to data in a system.
Cloned=cloning the process of copying the contents of one computer hard drive to another disk or to an “image” file.
Spoofed= Spoofing is a type of scam in which a criminal disguises an email address, display name, phone number, text message, or website URL to convince a target that they are interacting with a known, trusted source. Spoofing often involves changing just one letter, number, or symbol of the communication so that it looks valid at a quick glance. For example, you could receive an email that appears to be from Netflix using the fake domain name “netffix.com.”
Phishing= the fraudulent practice of sending emails or other messages purporting to be from reputable companies in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.
I have been a victim twice in the last 6-months!
6 months ago my Facebook was hacked. The hacker, from exotic Thailand, began attempting to login multiple times and then managed to change the recovery email to their own. Facebook, clearly confused that I may be in Thailand, allowed my new friend access and allowed them to be me! They immediately sent 100s of friend requests and did mainly other mildly annoying things, but no real damage. Or so I thought…
It turns out what the hacker was doing was buying ads for some dumb game/virus scam. Even after I was able to recover my account I was unaware that my Thai-buddy purchased Facebook ads with my credit!
Facebook sent me a notice of how my ad campaign was going. I advised Facebook that I had no such campaign. Turns out I had 3! One active and 2 in the hopper. I was able to end the current ad and delete the future ads, with minimal actual out of pocket expense to me. When I reported this to Facebook, they stated they reviewed the campaign and it all looked legit so I could not get my money back. Whomp-whomp.
However, I was able to regain control, detach a payment source and ultimately minimize the harm. It wasn’t super easy or straight forward and I felt as if Facebook thought I was up to something as opposed to the Thai-user.
Well, this week, my email account was hacked. This time my friend traveled to Lagos, Nigeria. They began login attempts at 6 in the morning and gained access at 2 in the afternoon. Now why Outlook doesn’t think every attempt to login to my email from Nigeria isn’t suspect is beyond me. A review of “My Activity” shows numerous logins from good ‘ol Madison, Mississippi for years and then a few hours later Nigeria!
Outlook’s assumption? I must be in Nigeria and need access. And I forgot my long-in and password… The Nigerian interloper gained access for a few minutes, sent out 180 emails with an attachment that looked like a Word download of a Bed Bath and Beyond Coupon and I immediately started getting calls, texts, and emails asking “Is this legit?“
As I responded as fast I could “No!” The hacker was responding “Yes. Please download.” !!! The hacker then started deleting my sent mail so I could not warn all persons it was sent to. I was finally able to wrestle back my email and changed the credentials to a password no human can ever remember…
This hack made less sense to me, but it turns out they targeted a law firm in the hopes of getting access to the lawyer’s trust/escrow account. They failed. This time.
Just for fun, the Hacker also implemented a “Rule” within my Email that rerouted all incoming messages to a subfolder that was previously never used. It took an expert diagnosis to solve that conundrum and the explanation of why incoming messages were rerouted was so that I would quit responding to persons that it was a scam.
This was also during the Snowapocolpyse of 2024. Perfect timing.
So what are the takeaways? Have some good antivirus software on your computer. Have some good passwords that are hard to guess. Have a recovery email go somewhere that you will have access to it. Get a credit card that is exclusively for online purchases. Get a bank account, again, solely for online activity. This will not prevent any hacking, but it will minimize the damage.
Matthew Thompson is a family law attorney in Mississippi and cautions you to be careful with downloads, uploads and computer users from Thailand and Nigeria.
These things do not go together, but are a reality for many…
Divorce situations at Christmas time add another level of stress to an already stressful time. Forced family togetherness can bring out short tempers and hard feelings. Games, one-upmanship and fake platitudes are an easy trap to fall into. So, what can you do? Don’t.
Make Christmas about something bigger than the infighting. As a person of faith, make it about that. Not super religious? Make it about maximizing the quality time you get to spend with your loved ones. Make it about a time of peace and reconciliation. If that isn’t possible due to your ex-spouse, disengage, step back and just be.
Holiday stress and depression is a real thing. It is something that needs to be handled as such.
Matthew Thompson is a divorce lawyer in Mississippi and wishes you a safe and Merry Christmas.
Whether a child should testify is a decision that hopefully you as a parent will never face. The Mississippi Supreme Court, in a 1990 Opinion, held “We reiterate that parents in a divorce proceeding should …refrain from calling any of the children of their marriage, of tender years at least, as witnesses, and counsel should advise their clients against doing so except in the most exigent cases.”- Jethrow vs. Jethrow, 571 So.2d 270 (Miss. 1990).
For testimony purposes a child witness of “tender years” is 12 and under and testifying is subject to the discretion of the Judge.
However, a recent Court of Appeals case requires ALL children be interviewed by the Judge in every custody case if a parent calls the child as a witness. It is now mandatory regardless of the age of the child, regardless of who has custody, and regardless even when the other parent objects believing same will result in harm, emotional or otherwise, due to the very young age of the child and even over the objection of the Guardian Ad Litem appointed for the child. Daly v. Raines, No. 2022-CA-00600-COA
This is a scary proposition for most parents and something to consider when you are litigating. In divorce/custody/family law litigation your children will now be forced to participate if either parent so decides.
Be careful who you have a child with…
Matthew Thompson is a child custody and divorce lawyer in Mississippi and believes that only in exigent circumstance should child custody even be considered . However, the “law” doesn’t always allow for common sense to prevail…
Judges swear an oath to uphold the Constitution, to follow the law, and apply it without prejudice or bias. Most do this very difficult task with tact and professionalism. Some do not. The Code of Judicial Conduct is intended to establish standards for ethical conduct of judges.
So what do you do when your Judge violates the law? Sometimes it’s a judgment call and not a violation of the law. In these circumstances you can file a Motion for New Trial and/or an Appeal.
But what about when the judge clearly violates the law? Can you sue the Judge? Usually, no. Judges enjoy what is known as Judicial Immunity that protects them from civil liability for violating the law. If the actions are criminal there could be penalties, but typically not for civil violations.
What else can be done? Contact Mississippi Judicial Performance. Judicial performance is an entity created by the Mississippi Constitution that seeks;
To enforce the standards of judicial conduct, To inquire into judicial liability and conduct, To protect the public from judicial misconduct and disabled judges, and To protect the judiciary from unfounded allegations.
All proceedings before the Commission are of a civil nature, not criminal, as the purpose of the Commission is to be rehabilitative and educational as well as disciplinary.
Any citizen, litigant, attorney, law enforcement official, judge, public official, or other individual who has knowledge of possible judicial misconduct may file a complaint with the Commission. Complaints may also be filed anonymously. Additionally, the Commission may file a complaint on its own motion based upon matters it learns of in other ways, such as from mass media and information obtained during the course of an investigation.
All complaints must be submitted to the Commission in writing. The Commission does not accept oral complaints. You may use a complaint form or write a letter to the Commission. A complaint form filed with the Commission should be typewritten or printed so that it is easily readable.
Matthew Thompson is an attorney in Mississippi and knows most Judges try to do it right…
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