Category Archives: Opinion

divorce, General Legal, Opinion

When “NO FAULT” becomes “YO’ FAULT”

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While Mississippi is technically not a true “No Fault” state, there are provisions for an Irreconcilable Differences divorce.  (commonly referred to as “No Fault”)

However, sometimes that agreement to a No Fault divorce doesn’t stick.  The parties, after getting over the initial shock of divorce, decide they will be adults and agree.  They think they can agree to the divorce and resolve their differences.   After all, they did manage to get along for most of 9 years, have two kids and bought a house.  What could go wrong?   They even searched online and looked at divorceyourself.com.

The No Fault agreement gets derailed when the Husband realizes he will have to pay 20% of his income towards child support, plus health insurance and alimony. He realizes it’s a lot of money. The Wife gets squirrely when she realizes that her half of the retirement account is consumed by balancing the equity in the house, or that the money she gets cannot be realized without significant tax consequences.

Parties to a divorce don’t realize child support is until 21 in Mississippi.  They don’t know the types of custody, or what each type means.  They agree to things that they cannot legally agree  to and fail to consider the consequences.

Finally, one party is convinced to see an attorney  and when they do they realize the consequences of what they were about to agree to and back out, the other side becomes angry and un-agrees too.  All of a sudden a simple divorce becomes complicated, expensive and adversarial.

Want to keep your situation from going from No Fault to Yo’ Fault? Have an assessment with an attorney that practices family law, keep the peace, and be smart.

Matthew Thompson is a family law attorney that can handle your divorce whether it’s your fault, their fault, or somebody else’s fault.

Follow the blog: BowTieLawyer    

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divorce, General Legal, Opinion

The Hardest Advice to Take is…

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I give advice everyday. Actually, I sell advice. 

 
Routinely, what I tell people is common sense. It’s the same advice your wise parent or grandparent would give you, but often it’s hard advice to follow. 

I’ve counseled persons to stop doing things that are harmful to themselves and their case. Don’t hang out with the shady crowd. Stop using alcohol if you have alcohol problems. Start going to church or stop doing things you shouldn’t be doing.  I tell people what they don’t want to hear. 

The hardest advice to take is to stop doing whatever lead to the circumstance where you needed legal help. 

www.bowtielawyer.ms

divorce, General Legal, Opinion

Don’ t Pull Tricks

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Lawyers have a bad reputation. Some deservedly so.

But a good rule of thumb is to not pull tricks.

I was representing a client when they called in a panic around noon during the week. The alarm was going off at the house.  I told them to call the police and go check on the house.

The police responded and cleared the home. Upon inspection, my client discovered the back door was kicked in, the phone lines cut and just about everything that could be moved was, including the dishwasher.

The client called me asking if she should report a robbery.  So, dear reader, you are wondering why is this client calling me? Well, just a few days prior the client’s spouse was served with a complaint for divorce and a request for temporary relief. I informed my client that she had in fact not been “robbed,” but that her husband had hired a local attorney. She asked me if that attorney had called or filed something. No. I could tell by her spouse’s actions who he had hired.

It was discouraging and disheartening, but alas, apparently not illegal.  However, we had a temporary hearing soon thereafter and everything taken that should not have been had to be returned and the damages caused and expenses related to his conduct were reimbursed. It gave no tactical advantage and made the other client and opposing lawyer look like jerks in front of the judge.

Similarly, clients have the option of pulling tricks. Misrepresenting the facts, creating circumstances that make the other party look bad and knowing the other’s dirt may allow for a temporary advantage that could backfire. Also, if you know it’s bad advice, you don’t have to take it.

Matthew Thompson is a Family Law attorney and strives to give good advice and not pull dirty tricks.

Follow the blog: BowTieLawyer Visit the website: Thompson Law Firm

You may also contact Matthew with your family law case, question or concern at (601) 850-8000 or Matthew@wmtlawfirm.com.

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General Legal, Opinion

How to Handle Someone that Bothers You; Are You Married to Oscar the Grouch?

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I hear complaints, gripes and criticisms everyday.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/161094754/oscar-the-grouch-bow-tie

It comes with the territory in helping people navigate emotional landmines involved in Family Law cases. However, I often ask,

“Did you tell him that comment bothered you?”

“No.”

“Why Not?”

“He should know that it bothered me…”

Perhaps he should know that it bothered you, perhaps he does know, or it’s possible he was oblivious.

ob·liv·i·ous (əˈblivēəs/)
adjective
not aware of or not concerned about what is happening around one.

How do you handle it? You tell him that it bothered you.

“Hey, that comment of equating me to Oscar the Grouch hurt my feelings. I did not appreciate it. Cookie Monster, perhaps, but not Oscar.”

Matthew Thompson is a Family Law Attorney in Mississippi and knows that sometimes we are grouches when we should be gracious.

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

Crime, divorce, General Legal, Opinion

The Fallout Continues…and there is more to come. Ashley Madison won’t Stop.

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One more post on Ashley Madison and then I am taking a break from the subject.

You can read about the Ashley Madison hack here and what it means and doesn’t mean here.

What is still developing are the ramifications from the hack and the disclosure of private information.

It’s been reported that there have been suicides due to person’s private information being leaked. There have been public admissions of using the site and being the “biggest hypocrite ever.” There have been public denials that the person listed did not create the account or use the account, well maybe they did create it, but it was for curiosity’s sake only. There have also been outright denials of accessing the site and that an impostor created the account.  This did happen, by the way.

There is actually a law in Mississippi which makes it illegal to impersonate another real person online with the intent to threaten, harm, intimidate or defraud another.  The fake accounts may well be actionable if it impersonated a real person.

The other concerning part is that the Impact Team, the hackers responsible for the leak, have indicated they have the content of private messages and pictures shared through the site. There may be more fallout to come.

Matthew Thompson is a Divorce Lawyer in Mississippi and warns you that this story has “legs” and other body parts too!

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

 

Crime, divorce, General Legal, Opinion

AshleyMadison; The Naked Truth.

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The List has been leaked. The names have been scoured. More than a few were familiar to you…

AshleyMadison is all the talk, but your name being on the list is not a conviction, at least not yet. It does not even mean you used it.

The site is supposedly anonymous. Meaning anyone could enter a User Name (not their real name), use a Prepaid Gift Card and a dummy (or generic) email address. Reports indicate some did just that. However, some most certainly did not.

Also, just because you were on the list did not mean you had an affair. It means that perhaps you wanted to, intended to, or wanted to have some chat time with a fictional woman.  The man to woman ratio makes it highly unlikely that those users of the site were “successful.”

It also means that some of those listed in all likelihood had affairs and spent money doing so.  In some instances, it’s being reported, thousands of dollars were spent. This is trouble for several reasons. 1) It is circumstantial evidence of an affair, certainly inclination (or infatuation), and 2) spending money on a girlfriend, or boyfriend, is Marital Waste.

It is at best just embarrassing and at worst indicative of family problems in the past and probably some more to come.

Matthew Thompson is a Family Law Attorney in Mississippi and recommends that if you are on the list it’s time to make that call.

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

Crime, divorce, Opinion

Hillary Clinton is Right About One Thing.

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You’ve got Mail. No you don’t…

Hillary Clinton is always in the news. Lately, it is not for anything positive. Clinton is battling accusations of improperly using a private email server and email for she and her staff AND using same for sending and receiving classified information.

Clinton knew it was improper and took extraordinary steps to wipe as much of the proof of this as she could. Clinton”wiped her server clean” and permanently deleted all e-mails from the personal server. 

Doing this is bad advice if you are Secretary of State, subject to pending litigation, or are aware of a Subpoena Duces Tecum requesting said information.

However, it is great advice if you are a lying cheater. Deleting emails, wiping a server is just smart if there is incriminating evidence in said emails and on said server. In fact, it’s dumb to not delete and wipe. It sets yourself up to be held accountable for your actions. It could prove that you have lied under oath. It could lead to all types of legal ramifications, monetary penalties and potentially cost you your freedom.

This week alone we have learned that one should destroy their cell phone, a la Tom Brady, NOT have an account with AshleyMadison (or, if you do, have a fake account) and one should have a private email server, and when convenient delete those emails and wipe the server!

Matthew Thompson is a Family Law Attorney in Mississippi and is advising his clients if you are contemplating any of the above that your first visit should be to a good Criminal Defense Attorney and the next visit should be to your Priest.

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

divorce, General Legal, Opinion

Why Ashley Madison’s Data Dump May Lead to Your Son Getting Dumped

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“Life is short. Have an affair.®” is the tag line that greets you at AshleyMadison.com.

However, a recent hack of AshleyMadison’s data servers may make your life even shorter.  Approximately 32 million users worldwide had their data hacked, including, names, email addresses and credit card information.

A group called the Impact Team demanded that the owner’s of AshleyMadison, and another site, remove their sites or be faced with having “secure” customer information released to the masses.

The Impact Team reportedly object to AshleyMadison’s moral turpitude and fraudulent business practices.  One example was that for an additional fee AshleyMadison promised to completely remove your online presence with them, which they did not follow through on.

The fall out is still in its earliest stages. Reviews of the logins and emails show a number of seemingly fake names and email addresses created for shenanigans, but credit card numbers may show otherwise.

The Impact Team’s response was “We have explained the fraud, deceit, and stupidity of ALM and their members. Now everyone gets to see their data…. Keep in mind the site is a scam with thousands of fake female profiles. See ashley madison fake profile lawsuit; 90-95% of actual users are male. Chances are your man signed up on the world’s biggest affair site, but never had one. He just tried to. If that distinction matters.”

AshleyMadison responded “This event is not an act of hacktivism, it is an act of criminality. It is an illegal action against the individual members of AshleyMadison.com, as well as any freethinking people who choose to engage in fully lawful online activities…The criminal, or criminals, involved in this act have appointed themselves as the moral judge, juror, and executioner, seeing fit to impose a personal notion of virtue on all of society. We will not sit idly by and allow these thieves to force their personal ideology on citizens around the world.”

The takeaway is that your online information is not as safe as you think it is and when a third-party has it others can get it.

Matthew Thompson is a Family Law Attorney in Mississippi and is advising his clients to not have affairs.

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