Category Archives: Divorce

alienation, Divorce, General Legal, Opinion

R. Kelly; Singing the Blues?

05/17/2017 BowTieLawyer Leave a comment

Robert Sylvester Kelly, better known as R. Kelly, has been sued in Hinds County, Jackson, Mississippi.

Kelly, a singer, songwriter, record producer, and former professional basketball player, is the named Defendant, along with his professional entities, in a pending Alienation of Affection lawsuit. The suit was filed by a Hinds County Sheriff’s Deputy, Kenny Bryant.

Bryant alleges that R. Kelly interfered with Bryant’s marriage relationship ultimately alienating his wife’s affection from Bryant.

Alienation of Affection is a Mississippi common law tort. That means it is a civil wrong, based on case-law and not a statute.

Alienation of Affection claims allow the wronged spouse to sue the “significant other” of the guilty spouse for the breakdown of the marriage. There are only 6 states in the country that still recognize Alienation, but Mississippi is one of them and in the 1990’s our appellate Courts reaffirmed Alienation as alive and well in the Mississippi legal system.

Alienation of Affection requires;

1) Wrongful Conduct, ie: adultery;

2) Loss of Affections, meaning there was a good relationship prior to the wrongful conduct; and

3) Causal Connection linking the Wrongful Conduct to the actual Loss of Affection. All 3 must be present for a viable claim. There is a 3 year statute of limitations in which to bring the claim, beginning when the loss of affection is finally accomplished.

Even if the above can be shown it does not mean that the Plaintiff wins. A jury would then decide a money value on the “damages.” That is a hard figure to quantify.

Divorce

Friday’s Humor.

05/12/2017 BowTieLawyer 1 Comment

Child Custody, Child Support, Divorce, General Legal, Opinion, Visitation

It’s NOT a Vast Conspiracy…(usually).

04/14/2017 BowTieLawyer 2 Comments

“Do you think the Judge was on the take?”

There have certainly been instances of judicial corruption. However, they are few and far between. In Family Law matters, Judges wield considerable power, read as discretion. The Judge, a.k.a. Chancellor, decides what evidence is admitted, how to determine witness credibility and what weight is given both.

To help in this endeavor, there are rules which the Court must apply and adhere to. These rules deal with whether evidence may be introduced, or if certain “witnesses” may even offer testimony. The lawyer knowing these rules, or at least that they exist and where to find them, should argue the application of the rules to the offered evidence or testimony and then the Judge determines if it is accepted.

With that background, if Court did not go your way ask your lawyer first. Were they prepared? Did they make sensible arguments? Did they know the law on the issues before the Court? Because, if they were not prepared, made nonsensical arguments and did not know the proper legal standard, perhaps your loss was not due to the vast conspiracy, but do to your own efforts and that of your counsel.

99 times out of 100 your loss is not to be put at the blame of the Judge. The Judge wasn’t bribed. Think about it. Why would the Judge risk his or her career, reputation and freedom just to give you a bad deal? They would not. Think about the checks and balances in place, the process for having rulings appealed, the fact that every word uttered in Court is taken down, recorded and documented and then look in the mirror and ask that person if they have done the right thing.

The Judge wasn’t bribed. Just maybe, the outcome was because of the facts.

Matthew Thompson is a Family Law Attorney in Mississippi and represents parents in domestic disputes regarding divorce, alimony, child custody and support.

Divorce, General Legal, humor, Opinion

Don’t Send a “Novel” in a Text Message

04/11/2017 BowTieLawyer Leave a comment

The first text message was sent in 1992 from Neil Papworth, a former developer at Sema Group Telecoms. Mobile phones didn’t have keyboards at the time, so Papworth had to type the message on a PC. Papworth’s text — “Merry Christmas” — was successfully sent to Richard Jarvis at Vodafone. http://mashable.com/2012/09/21/text-messaging-history/#7WcM8gVdbZqj

A two-word message was the first text message and is a good general guide for how long your messages should be. Texting a novel is NOT a good idea. It is hard to read. Punctuation is an afterthought. Grammar rules are ignored. There is no tone in text messages.

A text message novel is a mere paragraph in an email. In an email form it is not daunting or harassing. In text form it is over the top. Send short texts. Save the longer messages for an email or even a letter.

Matthew Thompson is a Family Law Attorney in Mississippi and reminds you to avoid sending a novel length text message.

Divorce, humor, Marriage

Friday Funny

Image 03/31/2017 BowTieLawyer Leave a comment

Matthew Thompson www.BowTieLawyer.ms (601) 850-8000

Divorce, General Legal, Marriage

Don’t Overplay Your Hand.

03/24/2017 BowTieLawyer Leave a comment

It’s an expression from the gambling world, but holds true in family law too.

Overplaying your hand is when you think you have the advantage, but do to whatever reason you don’t. Sometimes it’s because an important piece of information was not disclosed, or perhaps overlooked, or because the opponent has the ability to make a situation appear to be something that it is not.

For instance, it’s common in custody disputes for one side to want full custody and the other to want joint. The side that wants joint describes each side’s parenting as basically 50/50 and, of course, there is no need for child support. The side that wants full custody describes the parenting as more 80/20 and seeks support. The full custody parent can also back up their claims. They know the teachers, doctors, children’s schedules, and have done the primary care-giving. The side that wanted joint, well their job did not allow them to really do joint, but the 20% of the time they were around, they did 50% of the parenting. That would have been nice to know on the front end.

The bottom line is to be sure to tell your lawyer everything. If you do, you can be protected as much as possible. If you don’t, they may call your bluff and you could be up the river.

Matthew Thompson is a Divorce attorney in Mississippi and warns you that sometimes calling the person who is overplaying their hand can backfire on you. So be careful either way.

Divorce, Marriage

If You Don’t Get Married You Don’t Get to Keep the Ring.

03/23/2017 BowTieLawyer 1 Comment

The engagement ring. A circle, no beginning and no end. A diamond, one of the Earth’s most precious stones. However, if you don’t get married it goes back.

A very recent Mississippi Court of Appeals case reaffirmed Mississippi law on the engagement ring. In Cooley vs. Tucker, 200 So.3d 474, (Miss. App. 2016), the fellow, Tucker, gave a $40,000.00 ring to Cooley in 2011. He broke off the engagement in 2014. Cooley wore the ring the entirety of the engagement and the parties discussed wedding arrangements.

After calling off the wedding, Tucker requested the ring back and Cooley refused claiming it was a gift. To be a a valid gift the following is required:”(1) a donor competent to make a gift; (2) a voluntary act of the donor with donative intent;(3) the gift must be complete with nothing else to be done; (4) there must be delivery to the donee; and (5) the gift must be irrevocable.” Id.

The Court reasoned it was not a gift, in that it was a conditional gift in contemplation of marriage. Because no marriage occurred the gift condition was never satisfied. The ring must be returned. Cooley also argued that the Court should weigh in on the reasons for the marriage not occurring in the first place, meaning whose fault was it. The Court said, “We decline to do so.” Id. Did you get married? If no, the ring goes back.

Matthew Thompson is a Mississippi Family Law Attorney and cautions you to be careful who you marry and also be careful to whom you become engaged.

Divorce, General Legal, humor, Marriage

Why Putting Your Engagement on FaceBook May be a Bad Idea.

03/22/2017 BowTieLawyer 1 Comment

It seems our “lives” are lived on FaceBook, for better and for worse.

A short marriage came to an abrupt end when the parties realized that they did not really know each other. It was not a first marriage for either party, a whirlwind courtship and a tumultuous coupling that lead to separation after 9 months.

The husband sought an easy “no-fault” divorce. She would keep hers plus he pays her some starting over money, he keep his and they go their separate ways. She did not respond.

Well, she actually hired a lawyer and sued him for everything; a fault based divorce, 1/2 of the house, 1/2 of his retirement, that he buy her a car, permanent alimony, plus she retains all of her stuff. Again, all of this based on a 9 month marriage. It’s important to note that he had the house prior to marriage, the bulk of the retirement prior to marriage and the car was a lease that was to be turned in.

She was aggressive to a fault. She sought a temporary hearing and asked for temporary alimony. She didn’t get it. We then went through the discovery process. We sought records, arrest and otherwise.

Finally, a break through…she posted on FaceBook that she was engaged! To her Soulmate!

I sent her lawyer a note. It said “Great news! I hear congratulations are in order. Your client has announced her engagement. Attached are the pictures she posted, plus a pic of an impressive engagement ring…it’s high time this case settle. Attached is our proposal to settle all issues. Please review, sign where indicated and return to me. In the event this does not resolve this matter we will be filing an Amended Answer and Counterclaim consistent with these revelations.“

The case settled that day via an easy “no-fault” divorce. She kept hers plus he paid her some starting over money, he kept his and they went their separate ways.