Category Archives: Irreconcilable differences

Adoption, Child Custody, Child Support, divorce, General Legal, Grandparent Visitation, Irreconcilable differences, Marriage, Modifications, Opinion, Property Division

Why I care who the Judge is and why YOU should too!

Leave a comment

Chancery Judges are some of the most powerful judges in the state.

A Mississippi Chancellor (Chancery Court judge) holds broad judicial power over cases of equity; including domestic relations (divorce, custody, child support), wills, estates, land disputes, and cases involving minors or persons of unsound mind.

They have authority to grant injunctions, punish for contempt (fines, sanctions and/or jail), and exercise these powers daily.

An ideal judge combines high intellectual capacity with exceptional temperament, impartiality, and integrity.

Key qualities include patience, legal expertise, active listening, courage, and the ability to act firmly yet with compassion, ensuring fair proceedings and timely, reasoned decisions that uphold public trust.

Fairness in justly applying the law to the facts is an oath Judge swear to do.

Showing respect to the litigants, the attorneys, and the witnesses is a must.

Being honest, patient and acting with integrity are prerequisites for any Judge.

In Mississippi, in most cases judges are elected. Most Mississippians never encounter a judge and don’t give much thought into who is judge.

I assure you who your judge is is critically important and impacts your rights to your child and your fights to your freedom.

There are judicial elections throughout the state this November.

Get involved. Educate yourself. Ask attorneys and persons that know the judge or have experience with them.

Want an honest assessment? (that’s only mildly biased) Ask me.

Matthew Thompson is a family law attorney in Mississippi and practices statewide and right now who your judge is can matter more than the facts or the law…and that’s potentially dangerous.

Adoption, alimony, Child Custody, Child Support, divorce, General Legal, Grandparent Visitation, Irreconcilable differences, Marriage, Modifications, Opinion, Property Division, Visitation

Bridgett Clayton for Hinds County Chancellor

1 Comment

Hinds County Attorney, Bridgett Clayton, has qualified to run for Hinds County Chancery Judge!

“After much prayer and consideration, I am honored and excited to announce that I qualified for Hinds County Chancery Court Judge, District 5-3, on today.”

“I am ready to serve the citizens of Hinds County with God serving as a Lamp unto my feet and the Light unto my path as I seek election for this judicial seat to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly before my God. Micah 6:8”

I am requesting your prayers and support during the campaign as well as on Election Day which is November 3.

Please be on the lookout for future campaign information. Thank You!

Matthew Thompson is a Chancery practitioner and knows-well the power, authority and responsibility that Chancellor’s have and the knowledge and wisdom they should possess. Attorney Bridgett Clayton has all of those qualities and then-some!

Please support Bridgett Clayton for Hinds County Chancellor!

divorce, Irreconcilable differences, Opinion

Married for Another Year…Common sense Changes to Divorce Law DIE, again…

Leave a comment

Senate Bill 2018 and House Bill 496 died a quick, unceremonious death in committee this year.

Both sought to allow fault grounds to be amended or added to existing law. One change was to allow for a divorce if the parties had been separated for over a year. The other, if a party could prove the marriage was irretrievably broken. Not outrageous changes…

Regardless, there will be no changes in 2025 to fault grounds in Mississippi.

Matthew Thompson is a Mississippi Divorce attorney and has supported common sense changes to divorce law for 20 years…it hasn’t happened yet.

Bow Tie, Crime, divorce, General Legal, humor, Irreconcilable differences, Marriage, Modifications, Opinion

An Open Invitation to Colab…

Leave a comment

Believe it or not, there are not many Mississippi Legislators that are lawyers!

Saturday Night Live compared the Mississippi Legislature to a hissing possum. It was funny…

“Whew!” you say? Not so fast. Our legislators make the laws. This may be the one instance more lawyers could help!!

There is proposed legislation with terminology, words, that do not mean what you (and our legislators) think they mean. Words matter. Legal words matter.

There’s a marked difference between May and Shall in the eyes of the law.

So, legislators, Please contact me at any time about any questions regarding proposed legislation. If i have an opinion I will share it. If I am unqualified to comment I will admit it, and if you ask that our discussion remain confidential I will honor that.

Let’s get this right the first time. Its too important to not to.

Matthew Thompson is a 20-year practicing lawyer, law school professor, author of the family law text book in Mississippi and not afraid to speak out and speak up. Contact him via email or phone. Matthew@ThompsonLaw.ms or (601)850-8000

divorce, Irreconcilable differences, Marriage, Opinion

To Divorce or Not to Divorce; That is the Legislative Question

1 Comment

At least 2 bills are pending to sort of make Mississippi Divorce Law make common sense…

Senate Bill 2018, Brice Wiggins seeks to make 2 tweaks to family law.

  1. Eliminate the willful and obstinate requirements of Desertion/Abandonment. Current law requires; a spouse’s “wilful, continued and obstinate desertion” for a period of a year is grounds for a divorce. Miss Code Ann. § 93-5-1 (2004).
  2. The New proposed law states, Fourth. * * * Continued * * * desertion for the space of one year.
  3. and adds a 13th ground
  4. 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.

an Identical House Bill also includes the above revisions. HB0496 sponsored by Representative Denton.

Why is this common sense, sort of? 48 other states have true, no fault divorce statutes. Mississippi does not. You can read why that matters here, here and here…

Why is it common sense? The law and legislature cannot make someone be a spouse or partner regardless of the status of the marriage.

Mississippi has proposed these common sense changes every year since I have been paying attention. It ain’t happened yet….

Matthew is a family law and divorce attorney in Mississippi and is in favor of some common sense changes in the law.

Child Custody, divorce, General Legal, Irreconcilable differences

Two Family Law BILLS Died in Committee

Leave a comment

Mississippi legislation kicked around 2 significant ideas for changes in Family Law. Both failed to become law in the State.

This “was the year” for Irretrievable Breakdown, Mississippi’s answer to No Fault Divorce.

In MS, you do NOT have a right to a divorce. You either have to have fault grounds that you can prove to the satisfaction of the Chancellor or have an agreement with your spouse to ALL issues. 48 other states have a No Fault Divorce process. MS does not.

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.

Secondly, a Joint Custody bill was proposed. There were several iterations of this legislation, but the gist of it was that the Court was to assume that Joint Physical Custody was in the best interest of the child when parents could not agree (and, even if they could) and if the Court found Joint Physical Custody was not in the best interest of the child it had to state why. (There were some issues with the proposed legislation as it was drafted, but this Bill found some traction and was discussed and bandied about for weeks…ultimately to no avail).

(2) * * * (a) There shall be a presumption, rebuttable by a
preponderance of evidence, that joint custody and equally shared
parenting time is in the best interest of the child. If the court
does not grant joint custody and/or equally shared parenting time,
the court shall construct a parenting time schedule which
maximizes the time each parent has with the child and ensuring the
best interest of the child is met.
(b) Upon petition of both parents, the court may grant
legal and/or physical custody to one parent.

Both bills failed and there are limited changes to MS Family Law. A blog for another day.

Matthew Thompson is a Family Law Attorney in MS and is in favor of some common sense changes in Mississippi Law.

alienation, Child Custody, Child Support, divorce, General Legal, Irreconcilable differences, Opinion

What Does it Look Like when you are Not Ready for Divorce?

Leave a comment

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.

It’s TOO Hard.

Getting to simple agreements is a Herculean effort. When commonsense has left the station.

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.

divorce, Irreconcilable differences, Opinion

Changes in Family Law Coming?? (for Mississippi)

5 Comments

Word on the street is that some changes are coming in family law in Mississippi…

Possible changes include;

Changing the age of majority from 21 to 19.

This change involves the time period a non-custodial parent would have to provide child support and certain other child related benefits. It could impact health insurance, extra curricular expenses and school expenses- unrelated to college. The vast majority of other states is 18 or 19 years of age- for age of majority.

Another change is adding a ground for divorce if your marriage is irretrievably broken.

Irretrievable breakdown means that the marriage is broken beyond repair, this quasi-no-fault ground tells a court that at least one spouse wants to end the marriage, which generally should be enough for a judge to grant a divorce.

This is a potentially significant change and would align Mississippi divorce law with 48 other states. This change would significantly streamline the current fault vs. consent requirements.

In June of 2021, the Mississippi Legislature established this task force to study Mississippi’s domestic relations laws and to develop recommendations to the Legislature and the Mississippi Supreme Court to recommend needed changes in MS Family Law.

Members of the task force included;

• Senate Judiciary A Chairman Brice Wiggins of Pascagoula and House Judicial A Chairman Angela Cockerham of Magnolia;
• Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Griffis of Ridgeland, Chancellor Troy Odom of Brandon and Chancellor Jennifer Schloegel of Gulfport, appointed by Supreme Court Chief Justice Mike Randolph;
• Court of Appeals Judge David Neil McCarty of Jackson, appointed by Court of Appeals Chief Judge Donna Barnes;
• attorneys Mark A. Chinn of Jackson, Donna S. Smith of Columbus, A. Regnal Blackledge of Collins and Diandra Hosey of Jackson, appointed by the Mississippi Bar;
• attorney guardians ad litem Melissa B. DiFatta of Pascagoula and Lee Ann Turner of Starkville, appointed by the Mississippi Bar;
• Division of Child Support Enforcement Senior Attorney J. Michael McCauley of Bay St. Louis, appointed by Mississippi Department of Human Services Executive Director Robert
G. Anderson;
• Professor Deborah Bell of Oxford, Senior Faculty in Service at the University of Mississippi School of Law, appointed by Dean Susan Duncan;
• Professor Shirley Kennedy of Jackson, Director of the Family and Children’s Law Center and Director of Child Advocacy Programs at Mississippi College School of Law, appointed by Dean Patricia Bennett.

Kudos to this fine group of lawyers, judges and academia for much needed changes in MS law.

Matthew Thompson is a family law and defense attorney in Mississippi and welcomes common sense changes in family law.