What is a Deposition?

01/05/2017 BowTieLawyer Leave a comment

A Deposition is an out of court, under oath interview of a party or witness. The questioning is done by the attorney of the party or witness. The questions are about the pending case, including; fault or misconduct, money and financial matters, child related issues, and almost anything else that could lead to discoverable information.

A deposition allows you to find out the answer to questions that you may otherwise not know the answer to and allows for the attorney to ask “dumb” questions.

There is a lawyer cliché to never ask a question that you do not know the answer to. The way around this is to ask in the deposition. The deposition is typically not at the Court, but at the lawyer’s office or some other agreed upon place. The deposition is not seen by the Court, at least not automatically.

Depositions serve not only to provide an opportunity for answers, but also to create pressure. Pressure to settle, pressure to try to bring the pending matter to conclusion. Depositions can be long, difficult, embarrassing, but can also provide for closure, for a party to have their say, and to “clear the air.”

Matthew Thompson is a Family Law attorney in Mississippi and has spent more hours in depositions than he cares to admit.

Matthew@bowtielawyer.ms (601) 850-8000

Child Custody, divorce, Visitation

Parenting Rubbish

01/03/2017 BowTieLawyer Leave a comment

Happy New Year? Rubbish…

gallery-thumbnails — vectorolie /freedigitalphotos.net

Oftentimes, we think a new year is a new beginning, or at least it should be, but your ex will continue to let you down and disappointment reigns supreme.

Parenting Rubbish:

“Letting” the Child pick/dictate the schedule. Jr. doesn’t want to go with you. Every now and again, perhaps Jr. really doesn’t and there is good reason. However, always letting the child opt out is not good parenting.

Signing the Child up for activities to interfere with the other parent’s time. But, Jr. really wanted to play badminton. Sure, it’s every other weekend and Wednesdays, but that was just coincidence…

“Forgetting” to share milestones. Jr. was confirmed at church or Grandparent’s Day at school…well, they could have found out if they really wanted too…also, in Mississippi, the first hunting experience. Really.

Not listing the Other parent on school and medical forms. That will show them. They are not a “real” parent, instead list your new squeeze. The school won’t know.

Read more about Terrible parenting here, being Terrible in general and Rotten parenting .

Matthew Thompson is a Child Custody attorney and warns that Judge’s don’t appreciate this garbage.

Follow the blog: #BowTieLawyer. You may also contact Matthew with your family law case, question or concern at (601) 850-8000 or Matthew@bowtielawyer.ms

divorce

Happy 2017

12/31/2016 BowTieLawyer Leave a comment

divorce

Merry Christmas!

12/25/2016 BowTieLawyer Leave a comment

Matthew@bowtielawyer.ms (601)850-8000

divorce, Marriage, Opinion

Don’t Set Your Wedding Date before the Divorce is Final

12/22/2016 BowTieLawyer Leave a comment

Yesterday’s blog regarding not getting re-married on the same day as your divorce inspired some additional excellent advice…

Do NOT set your Wedding Date before the divorce is FINAL.

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Obviously, you cannot get re-married if you have a pending divorce. However, you should not set the date to marry your one, true beloved, counting on the divorce to go through from your demented, soon-to-be-ex on time, every time.

Divorce is not Amazon Prime. There is no guaranty that it will be there with next day shipping. In fact, routinely, something occurs to delay the process. A signature page was left blank or someone forgot to notarize all of the documents. Sometimes the Court is not available on day 61 to enter it and sometimes people change their minds.

Matthew Thompson is a Mississippi divorce attorney and advises you to wait until the divorce is final before setting the date for wedded bliss.

(601) 850-8000 Matthew@bowtielawyer.ms

divorce, Marriage, Opinion

Don’t get re-Married on the same day that you got Divorced.

12/21/2016 BowTieLawyer 1 Comment

Finding that one, true soulmate is magical. However, it does not mean you should immediately marry them.

Do not get married to your true love on the same day that you got divorced from the first mistake. Just don’t. Yes it’s legal, assuming the divorce was done right. But, it makes your anniversary also your divorceaversary. While starting anew is a great thing. Starting anew a little bit slower is a better thing.

Matthew Thompson is a divorce lawyer and wants you to get re-married, but does not think you should do it on the same day that your divorce became final.

(601) 850-8000 Matthew@bowtielawyer.ms

Child Custody, divorce, Modifications, Opinion

Encourage a Good Relationship! (Co-parenting)

12/13/2016 BowTieLawyer Leave a comment

A parent has a moral and legal duty to promote a healthy, affectionate relationship between the child and the other parent!

What? You justify your conduct by saying, “I am not bad-mouthing him.” But, just not bad-mouthing him is not enough. You have an affirmative duty to promote a good relationship. (With rare exceptions for the health and safety of the child.)

Encourage, promote and truly desire a good relationship between your child and the other parent. Your child will benefit!

Matthew Thompson is a Family Law & Divorce Attorney and reminds you that a child with two parents that get along and are involved is better than the alternative.

(601)850-8000 Matthew@bowtielawyer.ms

Child Custody, divorce, Grandparent Visitation, Visitation

“Sir, Yes, Sir.” The Military is Respected in Custody Courts.

12/09/2016 BowTieLawyer Leave a comment

Our Military service personnel deal with serious family law issues which can be made more difficult due to their military service. Being subject to activation, deployment, required training, frequent moves and dangerous activities add to making circumstances more difficult.

However, Mississippi has specific protections for military parents.

MCA 93-5-34, provides an efficient process to resolve custody matters when dealing with a military parent. Upon such circumstances of a custodial parent serving, the statute provides that the other parent will have custody, but that custody ends within 10 days of the former custodial parent returning from service.

Additionally, it provides that the serving parent shall have reasonable access for phone and video visits. The deployed member may also delegate visitation to their own family members. These types of military custody cases receive priority by the Courts to be heard and the serving parent may “attend” via affidavit or electronic means where possible.

Lastly, a parent’s service cannot be used against that parent upon their return for a custody modification by the other parent.

Matthew Thompson is a Military Divorce Attorney in Mississippi.

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@bowtielawyer.ms