Tag Archives: cheating

Crime, Divorce

What is an Affair?

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Mississippi law defines an affair as uncondoned sexual intercourse with a person of the opposite sex, not your spouse.

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This definition is evolving, however. With recent changes in the law regarding who can get married the requirement that it be a person of the opposite sex is no longer a valid limitation. Additionally, it must be uncondoned which means without either permission before or forgiveness after.

Because affairs are so secretive in nature the Court can use circumstantial proof to find you guilty of Adultery. Upon a showing of inclination and opportunity the Court can conclude you cheated even over your absolute denial and total absence of DNA evidence! Frankly, DNA evidence and divorce Courts have not caught up with CSI, yet.

Inclination (or infatuation) is the many, many number of calls, texts, emails and love letters, communicating all hours of the night and day. The contact between the spouse and the paramour.

Opportunity is just them being alone together long enough to… This could be the house, car, park, hotel, motel or back alley.

Does other stuff count, as opposed to just sexual intercourse? It could. It also stands to reason that the Court could infer that if you are doing other stuff it includes intercourse.

Matthew Thompson is a Mississippi Divorce Attorney and reminds you to not have an affair.

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

Divorce, Marriage, Opinion

Things you CAN Cheat on…

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We’re constantly told, reminded and scolded about what we cannot cheat on.  But, there are some things you can cheat on, or things that even if you do the consequences are not so dire.

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#1. Your Diet. Go ahead and cheat.  “Tomorrow” is the most popular day to start a diet anyway, followed closely by “next Monday.”

#2. Video Games.  While you do not want to teach your children to cheat, using the “god mode” code makes the game more better. Invincibility only exists in a video game world anyway.

#3.  Taxes.  This is not recommended, but chances are you are cheating and don’t even know it with the complexity of the Internal Revenue Code. Under reporting income or over reporting expenses or deductions  is common and often unintentional.

These are just 3  of the things that cheating on likely will not lead to a long, miserable life, well #3 might, just ask Al Capone.

Matthew Thompson is a Family Law Attorney in Mississippi and advises you to cheat on your diet, not on your spouse or taxes!

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

 

Child Custody, Divorce, General Legal, Irreconcilable differences, Marriage

The Worst Fault Grounds Ever = A Divorce.

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Emotional abuse, verbal abuse, multiple affairs are all grounds for divorce in Mississippi.

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But, what if your spouse was really bad?  What if they said, as my grandmother-in-law used to say, “both words?”  IE: “I was so mad that I said ‘both words!'” What if you had really, really bad grounds and lots of it?

That gets you a divorce.

One affair or 1,000= a divorce. Being incarcerated for 1 year or for life = a divorce. Abandonment and the other grounds, if proven, gain you a divorce.

Here’s what Fault does not equate too.  “Getting taken to the cleaners.”

A mother having an affair does not lose custody because of that fact alone. A father who cheats does not have to pay the wife due to that fact alone. The Court, instead, looks at the totality of the circumstances.  If you are a good parent despite your fault you will still get to see your child.  If it was a short marriage or your spouse makes more than you, you will not have to pay a boat load just because you messed up.  Courts do not “punish” you financially for affairs, usually.

Just because you messed up does not mean you have to continue messing up. Just because you messed up does not mean you will pay for it the rest of your days. But, if you are messing up Stop now and call an attorney.

Matthew Thompson is an Attorney practicing Divorce Law in Mississippi and may can help you even if you really, really messed up.

Follow the blog: BowTieLawyer 

Visit the website: Thompson Law Firm

You may also contact Matthew with your family law case, question or more information on Child Custody and Divorce. (601) 850-8000 or Matthew@bowtielawyer.ms.

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Child Custody, Crime, Divorce, Marriage, Opinion

The Adultery Train- All Aboard!

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An affair plays a significant role in a large number of divorces.  It is a train wreck to a relationship.

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Beezqp- “Big Bad Locomotive”

A sure-fire way to wreak havoc in a marriage is to have an affair.  Mississippi law defines an affair or adultery as sexual intercourse, with a person of the opposite sex, not your spouse.  However, due to the secretive nature of affairs you do not have to have an admission of guilt or pictures, though it helps.  The ground can be proven through circumstantial evidence.

Upon a satisfactory showing of 1) inclination or infatuation, which can consist of cards, notes, emails, love letters, texts and phone records showing many calls; and 2) opportunity, which is the spouse and that other person alone together, be it in a car, house, motel, hotel, park or back alley, a Court can find that fault grounds exist.  Due to this, even the whole “it’s only an emotional affair” and the “we didn’t have sex” may not be enough to stop the Adultery train from running over you.

So, why do people have affairs?  They can be exciting, fun and pleasurable, at least for a little while.  What leads to this? Sometimes the person is unhappy, dissatisfied, over-stressed, unloved, under-appreciated, or at least believe that they are.

The problem is the affair does not fix the problem.  It only serves to make things worse.  Because along with an affair comes new baggage.  Guilt, secrecy, and the emotions of a third person are now commingled in your personal life.  An affair not only hurts your spouse, but also you, your children and the other party.  It has emotional consequences, financial consequences, custody consequences and legal consequences.

An affair is a Train wreck in the making.

Matthew Thompson is a semi-part-time Family Law Professor at MC Law and a Divorce Attorney encouraging you to avoid train wrecks!

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

 

Divorce, General Legal, Marriage, Opinion

Red Flags of an Affair

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Warning signs to look for…

Warning signs that may show that your significant other may be seeing another!

  • A Secret Cell Phone.  They have a 2nd phone without a need or the other phone is secret.
  • Change in Attire.  The spouse is dressing in trendier clothes or “younger” or more “revealing” clothes.
  • New Undies.  Provocative undergarments appear that you don’t see in use.
  • Working out.  A sudden change in their workout regimen, without a scare from the Dr. and it’s not New Year’s Day.
  • Body Grooming.  Manscaping, or new cologne, perfumes, etc.
  • Body Augmentation.  Having lifts or lipos.
  • Longer Work Hours.  Having to work late, a lot more often, and out-of-town travel when they previously did not.
  • Unexplained Absences.  Going to the store for some milk and being gone 6 hours.
  • Bad On-Line Habits.  Surfing at all hours of the night, deleting the browser history.
  • FaceBooking Old Flames.

Matthew Thompson is a family law attorney in Mississippi and admits while these signs can certainly exist with nothing going on, that if 3 or more are happening Watch Out!

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.

Child Custody, Divorce, Marriage

Cheetah, Cheetah! (The Cheater Gets Nothing? Not Necessarily.)

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Your dirty, no-good, lying, sorry sack of spouse is a CHEATER. Obviously when the Court hears about this that so-and-so will be excoriated and will never show their face again in town. They certainly won’t get anything, right?

In Mississippi, an Affair is a fault ground for divorce. If your spouse is guilty of an affair it will get you a divorce, but don’t count on that fact alone meaning you get everything and they get nothing. It does not mean that he will have to pay you or that the CHEATER cannot get alimony or even custody.

Back in the olden days, some may say the “Good ‘Ol Days”, a lady was barred from receiving alimony if she were guilty of adultery. This is no more, though contributions to the stability and harmony of the marriage are considered and an affair can play a part in what is ultimately received.

Additionally, a spouse having an affair is not barred from being awarded custody. In the olden days a mom that had an affair could be putting her children at risk. Today, a parent’s adultery or morality pursuant to the Albright Custody Factors is considered, but an affair with no adverse impact to the child – will not automatically mean the CHEATER will not get custody.

So, cheat with impunity? No. Just know that cheating ain’t what it used to be, unless it is.

Matthew Thompson is a family law attorney and Cheetahs do NOT change their spots.

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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