All posts by BowTieLawyer

Matthew operates the Thompson Law Firm, pllc, a Mississippi based Family Law firm emphasizing; Divorce, Child Custody, Child Support, Modification, Contempt and Appeals, handling family law cases throughout Mississippi. (601) 850-8000 Matthew@bowtielawyer.ms www.BowTieLawyer.ms

Divorce, General Legal

Attorneys are Like Used Cars

03/18/2015 BowTieLawyer 2 Comments

Used car salesmen, stock brokers and door-to-door salespersons have tough reputations, at least the internet says so.

Well, what about attorneys? Lawyers represent the 4th highest rank of depression for any given career. Attorneys are like used cars. Some are shiny and look great on the outside, but are held together with JB Weld and duct tape on the inside. Some look rough and haggard, but can get the job done in an economical fashion. Some are much more expensive than necessary, but it’s your choice. Some are just not equipped to get the job done. Given this, how do you know what you are getting?

Ask. Ask your friends, family and neighbors who they used? How was their experience?
Inspect. You interview the lawyer as much as they interview you. Can they explain the law in terms you understand?
Listen. Are they telling you just what you want to hear?

As Forrest Gump said, “You never know what you are going to get.” But, with a little homework and due diligence you can avoid getting a lemon.

Matthew Thompson is a Divorce Litigation Attorney in Mississippi and warns you to avoid the Lemon Lawyer.

Follow the blog: #BowTieLawyer Visit the website: #Thompson Law Firm You may also contact Matthew with your family law case or question at (601) 850-8000 or Matthew@bowtielawyer.ms

Divorce, General Legal, Marriage, Opinion

Have a Plan.

03/13/2015 BowTieLawyer Leave a comment

It cannot be stressed enough. Have a plan.

Too often lawyers and litigants do things just to be doing something. I like having a plan and carrying out that plan. I discuss options, steps and expenses for each option and what I recommend and why.

While this approach takes more effort and time on the front end it can lead to amazing results of achieving seemingly very difficult goals very quickly or without causing a huge scene.

Matthew Thompson is a Divorce Attorney and loves it when a plan comes together!

Follow the blog: BowTieLawyer

Visit the website: Thompson Law Firm

You may also contact Matthew with your family law case, question or more information on Child Custody and Divorce. (601) 850-8000 or Matthew@bowtielawyer.ms.

General Legal, Opinion

5 Dirty Secrets about Secrets!

03/09/2015 BowTieLawyer Leave a comment

I keep secrets for a living.

No, I am not in the NSA, but I have less issues keeping secrets than they do and the CIA.

Keeping secrets is not hard, but it’s very easy to slip up. Here are sure-fire ways to ensure that your secret gets out.

5 Ways to Spill the Beans:

5. Tell someone else. It’s no longer a secret when more than one person knows about it. There are only a few circumstances when privilege applies to disclosed secrets.

4. Write it down. Keeping a Journal may be good for your mental health, but it also creates a record of your activity.

3. Take a Picture. Cameras on cellphones have lead to more evidence than just about any other device.

2. Get Drunk. It’s been said that “a drunk man says what a sober man thinks.”

1. Text It. Similar to #3. Text messages have done in many a secret. Not only are they very easy to send. They are easy to send to the wrong person, and come with a time and date stamp!

Matthew Thompson is a Divorce Attorney and knows how to keep a secret.

Follow the blog: BowTieLawyer

Visit the website: Thompson Law Firm

You may also contact Matthew with your family law case, question or more information on Child Custody and Divorce. (601) 850-8000 or Matthew@bowtielawyer.ms.

Crime, Divorce, General Legal, Marriage, Opinion

SOULMATES do NOT do the Following; The TOP 5 Signs that you have NOT found your “soulmate”

03/06/2015 BowTieLawyer 1 Comment

A noted Practitioner, Professor and Author once said, “Soulmates and Unicorns live in the same zip code.” – Matthew Thompson

That is to say, that perhaps, Soulmates in the truest sense may well NOT exist, a la Unicorns. However, regardless of your belief, for purposes of this post, assume Soulmates do exist. *

The TOP 5 Things Your Soulmate Will NOT Do:

5. Physically/Verbally assault you.

4. Harm your family members.

3. Fake a pregnancy to induce you into marriage or remain in one.

2. Isolate you from all other persons/friends/family.

1. Encourage you to establish a shell LLC so that you may then purchase their dream home at your expense, placing ownership interests into their sole name and doing all of this in a fashion as to hide it from all others. All the while, said Soulmate pays no heed as to your current financial condition and whether it is what is best for you.

*Science has yet to conclusively prove that Soulmates exist.

Matthew Thompson is a Family Law Attorney and can help you part ways when you realize your Soulmate is NOT your Soulmate.

Follow the blog: BowTieLawyer

Visit the website: Thompson Law Firm

You may also contact Matthew with your family law case, question or more information on Child Custody and Divorce. (601) 850-8000 or Matthew@bowtielawyer.ms.

Opinion, Uncategorized

Rant of the Day: Youth Coaches

03/04/2015 BowTieLawyer Leave a comment

Spring is in the air. (At least it is today.) And that means youth sports are right around the corner.

young-man-with-megaphone-10081310 — stockimages / freedigitalphotos.net

Today’s Rant is about Youth Coaches. Disclaimer: 1) I am a Youth Coach. I coach soccer, indoor and outdoor. I coach softball. I have previously coached t-ball and assist with Scouts. I have been an umpire for youth baseball. I am qualified to opine on this topic, plus I have a blog. 2) This does not apply to all Youth Coaches.

I have determined that there are a combination of 5 personalities for Youth Sport Coaches. Some good, some bad and some awful.

1) The Encourager-Mr. Coach Rogers.

This Coach is almost always positive. A smile on their face. They know all the team members by name and nickname. “Great effort!” “Way to Hustle!” The emphasis is on encouragement, not wins or losses and maybe not even fundamentals.

2) The Professional – Coach Heisman.

This Coach played the sport in College and perhaps semi-professionally. They were intense. They insist on learning the fundamentals, drill-instructor like, but with the goal of teaching the basics. They also like to try to get the players to play beyond their level, after all teaching them too much is a good thing. Right?

3) The Absent Coach – Coach Empty Chair.

You practice once because you have to. It’s “Hey, kid in the yellow shirt. Get in there!” Or, “Number 5, play defense.” Never mind that all of the players are in yellow shirts and they may or may not know their number or what “play defense” means. They’re late to the game. Practice is cancelled.

4) The SnackMaster – Coach DoNut.

Youth sports are about snacks after the game. He who has the best snacks has the best season. Remember that time the Blue team had orange slices and water, but we had Donuts and Hi-C! I sure do. Donuts win in youth sports. Right or wrong.

5) Ol’ Yeller – Coach McScreams-A-Lot

“GET BACK, KICK IT, DON’T DO THAT!” “HURRY UP, QUIT LOLLYGAGGING” “I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT BONEHEADED PLAY” “PUT SOME ICE ON IT” “RUB DIRT ON IT“

Youth Sports is about learning the basics, being safe and having fun, in that order.

Matthew Thompson is a Youth Sports Coach and hybrid between the Encourager and SnackMaster.

Follow the blog: BowTieLawyer

Visit the website: Thompson Law Firm

You may also contact Matthew with your family law case, question or more information on Child Custody and Divorce. (601) 850-8000 or Matthew@bowtielawyer.ms.

Marriage, Opinion

The Goode Olde Daze!

03/02/2015 BowTieLawyer 1 Comment

Let’s wax nostalgic…

We always hear about “the Good Ol’ Days.” Times past when the world moved at a slower pace and was safer place. The air fresher, the sun shinier, and the water more pure. People got along better, rainbows were more colorful and every town was like Mayberry.

Hogwash!

The good old days were not amazingly different than today. There was less technology and less mass media, but otherwise the same struggles, pressures, vices, temptations and conflict existed.

Those clamoring for the good old days are really clamoring for reliving their childhood. Being young, carefree, and blissfully ignorant made for the times we reminisce about. Sure there were specific and momentous events in the past that were exciting and by virtue of being new were exciting, but new discoveries and excitement happen every day.

People tend to remember things more fondly than they really were. That school teacher that you could not wait to be rid of was the best one ever. That camping trip that you cursed taking because of the torrential rain and the 13-mile hike, which was 17 because you got lost, were amazingly fun- 5 years later.

The good old days..or rather daze, is the fog of memory. These days, right now, are the Good Days. Make the most of it before the get old.

Matthew Thompson is an Attorney practicing Family Law in Mississippi and reminds you that these are the Good Days!

Follow the blog: BowTieLawyer

Visit the website: Thompson Law Firm

You may also contact Matthew with your family law case, question or more information on Child Custody and Divorce. (601) 850-8000 or Matthew@bowtielawyer.ms.

Child Custody, Divorce, General Legal, Irreconcilable differences, Marriage

The Worst Fault Grounds Ever = A Divorce.

02/26/2015 BowTieLawyer 1 Comment

Emotional abuse, verbal abuse, multiple affairs are all grounds for divorce in Mississippi.

David Castillo Dominici /freedigital photos.net

But, what if your spouse was really bad? What if they said, as my grandmother-in-law used to say, “both words?” IE: “I was so mad that I said ‘both words!'” What if you had really, really bad grounds and lots of it?

That gets you a divorce.

One affair or 1,000= a divorce. Being incarcerated for 1 year or for life = a divorce. Abandonment and the other grounds, if proven, gain you a divorce.

Here’s what Fault does not equate too. “Getting taken to the cleaners.”

A mother having an affair does not lose custody because of that fact alone. A father who cheats does not have to pay the wife due to that fact alone. The Court, instead, looks at the totality of the circumstances. If you are a good parent despite your fault you will still get to see your child. If it was a short marriage or your spouse makes more than you, you will not have to pay a boat load just because you messed up. Courts do not “punish” you financially for affairs, usually.

Just because you messed up does not mean you have to continue messing up. Just because you messed up does not mean you will pay for it the rest of your days. But, if you are messing up Stop now and call an attorney.

Matthew Thompson is an Attorney practicing Divorce Law in Mississippi and may can help you even if you really, really messed up.

Follow the blog: BowTieLawyer

Visit the website: Thompson Law Firm

You may also contact Matthew with your family law case, question or more information on Child Custody and Divorce. (601) 850-8000 or Matthew@bowtielawyer.ms.

Divorce, General Legal, Opinion

What is a “Biblical Divorce?”

02/23/2015 BowTieLawyer 4 Comments

I hear this term a lot, “Biblical divorce.”

Most commonly it means having the fault ground of Adultery as the basis for the divorce. It is widely held that this is the only “Biblical Ground” for divorce and absent Adultery you cannot or should not get a divorce.

“Biblical grounds” can also include abuse and abandonment, depending upon your denomination. These, adding to the list the reasons that a divorce may be allowed.

Interestingly, the Bible also states “I say to you that everyone who looks at a another with lust has already committed adultery in his heart.” Mt. 5:28 This expresses the idea that lust for another, not your spouse, is “Biblical Grounds” for divorce.

Divorce is something no one really plans for (prenups notwithstanding). It is something that is routinely despised yet, it is also sometimes very necessary.

If you are struggling with issues of Divorce contact your clergy, counselor, or even an experienced family law attorney. They may well help you with your struggles.

Matthew Thompson is an Attorney practicing Family Law in Mississippi and may can help you.

Follow the blog: BowTieLawyer

Visit the website: Thompson Law Firm

You may also contact Matthew with your family law case, question or more information on Child Custody and Divorce. (601) 850-8000 or Matthew@bowtielawyer.ms.