Category Archives: Divorce

Common Law Marriage is Not Common

03/13/2019 BowTieLawyer Leave a comment

Common Law Marriage was the law of the land in Mississippi until 1956.

Prior to 1956 if you lived with someone, holding yourselves out as Mr. and Mrs., for longer than a certain number of years, it made that union a valid, legal marriage.

In 1956 the Mississippi legislature ended Common Law Marriage, or at least NEW Common Law Marriages within the State. Mississippi Code § 93-1-15 was passed that required a License and solemnization for a valid marriage.

(1) No marriage contracted after April 5, 1956 shall be valid unless the contracting parties shall have obtained a marriage license … and …shall have been performed …solemniz[ation]. Failure in any case to comply with both prerequisites …shall render the purported marriage absolutely void and any children born as a result thereof illegitimate.
(2) Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to affect the validity of any marriage, either ceremonial or common law, contracted prior to April 5, 1956.

Now if your Common Law Marriage was valid prior to 1956 in Mississippi and you and the Mrs. are still alive and together, then your marriage is valid. Interestingly, if you have a valid Common Law Marriage from another state Mississippi will also recognize that. 16 states still recognize Common Law Marriage according to Find Law and in the 1980’s Mississippi recognized a Common Law Marriage of a couple from Georgia. They eventually relocated to Mississippi and the wife sought and was granted a divorce. George v. George, 389 So.2d 1389 (Miss. 1980).

Don’t count on a Common Law Marriage for marital purposes, and don’t believe your “spouse” if they tell you you’re married and you have not followed the State licensure requirements.

Matthew is a family law attorney and was married using the post 1956 Mississippi methods.
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You may also contact Matthew with your family law case, question or concern at (601) 850-8000 or Matthew@BowTielawyer.ms

Divorce, General Legal

Shhh…CONFIDENTIAL.

03/12/2019 BowTieLawyer Leave a comment

Keeping secrets is my business.

Attorney client confidentiality and privilege are legal terms of art. Today’s blog will deal with confidentiality and privilege will be in a follow up blog.

Confidentiality is an ethical obligation on the the attorney to keep your business, your business. That means that your identity, the fact you called, or had an appointment, and the content of the discussions are all private. It means it is kept a secret to the extent it needs to be.

Confidentiality does not mean you may not disclose some information to others. If there is a pending suit and I am hired and file on your behalf then those facts are no longer confidential. If I need to disclose some facts to have an expert evaluate them, then to that extent, the disclosure to a third party, is no longer confidential. However, confidentiality can apply to third parties, including; experts, other attorneys in the firm, and staff in the firm.

The American Bar Assoc. Model Rule 1.6, states:

“A lawyer shall not reveal information relating to the representation of a client unless the client gives informed consent, the disclosure is impliedly authorized in order to carry out the representation or the disclosure is permitted by paragraph (b).”

“The rule prohibits a lawyer from sharing any information learned about their client–whether learned directly from the client or not–that is related to the representation without permission from the client. This is a broad duty. However…there are a number of instances where disclosure is permitted without a client’s consent, including preventing death or substantial bodily harm, preventing the client from committing a crime or fraud that will injure another, preventing or mitigating harm that may result from a crime committed by the client, compliance with other law or a court order, securing legal advice about compliance with the rule, establishing claims and defenses in the event of a dispute between the lawyer and the client, or resolving potential conflicts of interest for the lawyer. Given these numerous exceptions, a lawyer must pay close attention to the particular facts of their situation when determining whether disclosure is permitted.” ABA, Model Rule 1.6

Matthew Thompson is a Mississippi Family Law Attorney and keeps your secrets.

alimony, Divorce, General Legal, humor

Even $273 Million reasons couldn’t bring us back together…

03/11/2019 BowTieLawyer Leave a comment

5 months ago Mike got divorced.

It was a 15-year long marriage. For much of it Mike was unemployed. Eileen had had enough. Eileen had to pay Mike alimony based on their respective earnings, earning capacities and work histories.

5 months later Mike won $273 million dollars in the New Jersey lottery.

Upon learning of the win, Eileen said “He’s not appealing to me all of a sudden because he has this money.”

Mike responded, “$270 million does not make me appealing to her — that’s what she said?”

“It’s over with…I just want her to stop being in my life.”

While it appears no amount of money could salvage this relationship, Mike plans to salve his wounds with a new pickup truck, a vacation and listening to his lawyer.

Eileen has a basis to modify and possibly terminate her alimony obligations to Mike. Win, win.

Matthew Thompson is an Alimony Lawyer in Mississippi which just approved lotteries. Get ready!

Divorce, General Legal

Banned From Court…

03/06/2019 BowTieLawyer Leave a comment

Know the rules of your particular Courthouse before you get there.

Certain items may NOT be taken into Court, usually. Of course no firearms or weapons may be taken into Court. There have been laws and lawsuits regarding this. See Ward v. Colom, 2016-M-01072-SCT

However, depending on your jurisdiction, there are other items disallowed, and can include:

Cell Phones, Cameras, Recording Devices, Laptops, Ipads, E-Notebooks, Smart Watches, Mace, Weapon’s accessories (ie., a holster, even if empty), Purses, Hand bags, and the like.

In some jurisdiction this applies to the litigants and in some the litigants, witnesses, observers and attorneys.

Matthew Thompson is a Family Law attorney in Mississippi and reminds you to Ask your attorney the rules of what you can and cannot bring to Court.

Divorce, Opinion

Mississippi; Still #1 in the most difficult state to get a divorce…

02/08/2019 BowTieLawyer Leave a comment

This is not a pro divorce post. This is a common sense divorce post.

48 States* have divorce laws that allow for a divorce if one party seeks a divorce. Mississippi does not allow this. Mississippi requires either an agreement to all terms or you must have fault grounds.

A recent Bill attempted to add as a fault ground, actual separation for a period of 3 years:

Thirteenth.* Willful and continued separation without cohabitation, with the intent not to return or resume or otherwise continue the marital relationship, for not less than three (3) years. Either party may have a divorce based on this cause.

This Bill, authored by Sally Doty, never made it out of committee and died.

Why should you care? Because Mississippi law, as it exists right now, promotes divorce blackmail.

You can be anti-divorce and still acknowledge that some people need to be divorced, even absent adultery and abuse.

*South Dakota is the other state that does not recognize true no-fault divorce.

*There are currently 12 fault grounds for divorce in Mississippi.

Matthew Thompson is a Family Law attorney and is in favor of amending the divorce statutes.

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Child Custody, Child Support, Divorce, General Legal, Marriage, Modifications, Property Division, Visitation

The Updated BOOK is In. 2018-2019; Mississippi Divorce, Alimony and Child Custody with Forms.

01/11/2019 BowTieLawyer 2 Comments

Get ’em while they’re hot…

Mississippi Divorce, Alimony and Child Custody with Forms, 2018-2019, is hitting the shelves and internet near you.

This edition, in addition to bedrock family law principles, includes statutory and case law updates regarding jurisdiction, alimony, equitable division, business valuation, contempt, attorney fees, visitation, custody and de facto marriage concerns. It also includes updated, revised and new forms.

Matthew Thompson is a Family Law practitioner in Mississippi and has been the author of Mississippi Divorce, Alimony and Child Custody with Forms, since taking the reigns from his now retired Law School professor, the venerable Shelton Hand.

Matthew@BowTieLawyer.ms (601)850-8000

Divorce

Don’t Parent like a Snail.

01/04/2019 BowTieLawyer Leave a comment

Matthew Thompson is a child custody attorney in Mississippi and advises parent’s to not take the snail’s care-free approach to parenting.

Matthew@bowtielawyer.ms (601)850-8000

Divorce

Philandering & Hot Chicken…

12/28/2018 BowTieLawyer Leave a comment

Hot chicken is a Nashville staple. It’s origin, however, may come from a spicier circumstance…

The history of Nashville Hot Chicken may be a bit murky, but one version is that a philandering beau was made extra spicy chicken one morning by his significant other, seeking to get her revenge for his catting around.

Instead of revenge it started a wave of hot and spicy fried chicken!

While philandering is not recommended, Nashville Hot Chicken is!