Category Archives: General Legal

You MUST Prove Your Case.

08/15/2017 BowTieLawyer Leave a comment

Just because someone files something in Court does not make it so.

Allegations must be proven, by a preponderance of the evidence, meaning more likely than not, or by clear and convincing evidence, which is a much higher burden.

Filing papers is the easy part. Making wild accusations takes little effort. Backing up your claims with corroborating testimony, physical evidence or other support is the hard part.

Before you make a claim think about how you will prove it. Are there witnesses, recordings, photographs, videos, incident reports, police reports, documents or other evidence? If not, perhaps you need to rethink your claim. You may lose credibility with the Court.

Matthew Thompson is a Family Law attorney and warns you that crying wolf may lead to you getting the result you deserve.

divorce, General Legal, Opinion

Just Apologize.

08/02/2017 BowTieLawyer Leave a comment

Pride goes before the fall…Proverbs 16:18

In life it can be hard to say “I’m sorry,” but those two little words may save a pile of trouble. We’ve all seen prominent, public figures suffer dramatic falls, all seemingly snowballing from a refusal to apologize. It seems sometimes the trouble starts out small and grows bigger as we try to deflect, blame or hide our actions and point the fingers at others.

Perhaps, it is better to look in the mirror and point the finger.

Say “I’m sorry.” What’s the worst that could happen?

Matthew Thompson is a Family Law Attorney and is amazed at the lengths that some will go to not apologize.

Appeal, Child Custody, Child Support, divorce, General Legal, Modifications, Visitation

When Court Doesn’t Go your Way…

07/17/2017 BowTieLawyer Leave a comment

Sometimes Court doesn’t go your way.

Judges make mistakes, witnesses remember it wrong and you may ask for improper relief. But, all is not lost. You have options.

Motion for New Trial. This motion, sometimes referred to as a motion for reconsideration, can provide an avenue for the Judge to correct the mistake. They must be filed within 10 days of the Final Judgment and they are not for a do-over, but to correct a clear error of law or fact.

Appeal. You may appeal any Final Judgment. You have 30 days to do so from the final ruling and if you do a timely Motion for New Trial it resets the appeal clock. Appeals can be cumbersome and daunting. These are to the appellate court, not the Court that decided your case. However, an appeal is based on what happened below, the trial record. It’s not for new happenings.

Modification. Even though your judgment may be final, certain aspects are always modifiable. Custody, support, visitation and certain other payments may be changed by the Court if circumstances warrant it.

Matthew Thompson is a Divorce and Appeals lawyer in Mississippi.

Child Custody, divorce, General Legal, Visitation

She’s Your Ex, not mine.

06/21/2017 BowTieLawyer 1 Comment

“The poison ivy of people are ex spouses.” -Matthew Thompson

Exes can irritate, inflame, and annoy regardless of the season. Exes can make life difficult and uncomfortable. Exes can also cause a reaction that is not good.

I was meeting with a divorcee and their new spouse. We were discussing some issues about the ex and the best way to address it. The new spouse made the comment “She’s your ex, not mine.” This was a profound comment. It was not shirking responsibility or even placing blame. It was a statement that you, as the former spouse, need to address issues head-on and in an adult like manner.

Novel thought. Act like an adult. All too often, I see ex spouses acting like everything but adults. Petty arguments, meaningless games of one-upping the other and a general lack of care for the ex spouse can serve to harm the child. These are bad. Don’t do these things.

Act like an adult.

Matthew Thompson is a Child Custody attorney and encourages ex spouses to act like adults.

Bow Tie, Child Custody, General Legal, Visitation

Happy Father’s Day!

Image 06/18/2017 BowTieLawyer Leave a comment

(601) 850-8000

Child Custody, Child Support, divorce, General Legal, Grandparent Visitation, Marriage, Modifications, Opinion, Visitation

Advice to Parents; Grow up

06/07/2017 BowTieLawyer Leave a comment

If you are the parent to a child then act like it.

We have seen the reports and stories of parents going off the deep end. Using illegal drugs, abusing substances, pursuing bad-idea relationships and ultimately putting their own selfish desires above the needs of their children. It’s time to stop.

There are only a handful of people that you, as a parent, are ultimately responsible for; yourself and the people you brought into this world, your children.

Don’t shirk your duties. Don’t neglect your children. Don’t be so consumed with your own desires that you lose sight of what is important. Don’t hate another person so much it clouds your judgment when it comes to your children.

Matthew Thompson is a Child Custody attorney and encourages parents to grow up and act like a parent.

divorce, General Legal

Annulment 101

05/30/2017 BowTieLawyer Leave a comment

§ 93-7-3. Causes for annulment of marriages.

Annulment is having your marriage legally revoked.

A marriage may be annulled for any one (1) of the following causes existing at the time of the marriage ceremony:

(a) Incurable impotency.

(b) Adjudicated mental illness or incompetence of either or both parties. Action of a spouse who has been adjudicated mentally ill or incompetent may be brought by guardian, or in the absence of a guardian, by next friend, provided that the suit is brought within six (6) months after marriage.

(c) Failure to comply with the provisions of Sections 93-1-5 through 93-1-9 when any marriage affected by that failure has not been followed by cohabitation.

Or, in the absence of ratification:

(d) When either of the parties to a marriage is incapable, from want of age or understanding, of consenting to any marriage, or is incapable from physical causes of entering into the marriage state, or where the consent of either party has been obtained by force or fraud, the marriage shall be void from the time its nullity is declared by a court of competent jurisdiction.

(e) Pregnancy of the wife by another person, if the husband did not know of the pregnancy.

Suits for annulment under paragraphs (d) and (e) shall be brought within six (6) months after the ground for annulment is or should be discovered, and not thereafter.

The causes for annulment of marriage set forth in this section are intended to be new remedies and shall in no way affect the causes for divorce declared elsewhere to be the law of the State of Mississippi as they presently exist or as they may from time to time be amended. § 93-7-3.

Matthew Thompson is a Divorce and Annulment lawyer in Mississippi.

divorce, General Legal

Legal Forgiveness = Forgiveness? in a Divorce Action

05/23/2017 BowTieLawyer 1 Comment

One of the most claimed grounds for divorce is Adultery. Actually, the statue refers to it as “Uncondoned Adultery.” What, you ask, is Uncondoned Adultery? That is adultery that has not been “forgiven.”

Condonation is “legal forgiveness.” This happens when the aggrieved spouse knows of the fault and decides to reconcile with the other party. You resumed living together as husband and wife, had sex and otherwise tried to make it work.

Once this occurs you no longer have grounds for divorce based on Adultery. Even if it didn’t work!

There are a few strings attached, however. The guilty spouse must, in “good faith” attempt the reconciliation. Additionally, the aggrieved spouse can only forgive what they know about. If there were multiple affairs and all were not disclosed there may still exist fault grounds, whether they are aware of it or not. Also, if the adultery is repeated it revives the grounds for divorce.

Condonation is a difficult issues to wrestle with in divorce. The Court must consider the knowledge of the aggrieved spouse, the intent of the guilty spouse, the effort(s) to reconcile – whether they are in good faith. All these are fact specific and subjective determinations to be made by the Court.

Matthew Thompson is a divorce attorney in Mississippi and cautions you that some lawyers will advise the guilty party to do or say whatever is necessary to get the other party back in bed, for “reconciliation,” so that the defense of Condonation may be used.