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Does Mississippi Have Legal Separation?
Posted on Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Marriage is hard, there is no denying it and sometimes couples want to test the waters so-to-speak to see if they want to stay and work on their marriage or if they are ready to begin the divorce process. Couples who are not ready for divorce often opt for a trial separation, i.e. someone moves out of the house, gets an apartment, as if they are taking a so-called break from the marital home and possibly the marital relationship. Some states have laws that allow for couples to have a “legal separation”, however, Mississippi does not. Here the rule is simple: the law favors marriage. You are married until you are divorced or someone is dead. There is no such thing as legally separated in Mississippi, couples cannot go to a court and request that it put a hold on the marriage. This does not mean that you and your spouse cannot agree to a separation, it only means that any such agreement will not be judicially enforced. READ MORE
Financial Advisor Guest Post: Because They are Worth It
Posted on Monday, February 13, 2012
Statistics show that roughly one out of every two marriages will end in divorce. There are many factors that require attention during and after a divorce. Some of the obvious are financially related, but the less obvious emotional factors can severely impact the financial outcome of a divorce. I recently had a client make the following statement after settling a multimillion-dollar divorce: READ MORE
Stuck in the Middle
Posted on Friday, February 10, 2012
It is not unusual for a non-custodial parent to request to modify their child custody arrangement. To do so, the non-custodial parent must prove a material change of circumstances has occurred in the custodial home which adversely affects the child and that modification is in the best interest of the child. This is the traditional modification standard. However, what about parents who share custody of their children i.e. have joint custody? What is the standard? Although the parties must similarly show a material change, the standard for joint custody arrangement also requires that the change makes joint custody “unworkable” or “unmanageable.”See Lackey v. Fuller, 755 So. 2d 1083, 1089 (Miss. 2000). READ MORE
Private Investigator Guest Post - Helping Myself
Posted on Wednesday, February 08, 2012
A strange thing happened to me the other day, when I went for my annual checkup with my cardiologist. He came into the room and began asking me the very same questions he has asked me every year for the past ten years. Have you recently experienced any shortness of breath? Have you noticed any swelling in your legs or ankles? Have you experienced any periods of dizziness, etc.? Then, he asked if anything had occurred over the past year, health wise, that I thought he should be aware of? Like many, I couldn’t think of a thing, at the time. Later, I began to think of things and wondered if he would have wanted to know about them? Would these few, seemingly insignificant things, have had an effect on his decisions regarding my health care? READ MORE
Money Will Not Grow on Trees
Posted on Tuesday, February 07, 2012
Money might not grow on trees, but if it did, you would have an ongoing duty to report any changes in the foliage of your money tree if you were involved in a domestic case where there were any economic or property issues . Anyone who has gone through a divorce in Mississippi probably remembers having to fill out the 8.05 Financial Statement-page after page where you are required to itemize anything pertaining to money- your salary, pensions, insurance, down to what you spend every month on magazine subscriptions and even what you tithe every month to your church. As fun and exciting as it was to fill out the form before, effective July 1, 2012, individuals in domestic cases where money and/or property are involved (i.e. divorces, child custody and support, spousal support, etc…) are now required to disclose ALL assets and liabilities, regardless of whether they are marital or non-marital and are under a DUTY to supplement their prior disclosures if any changes have occurred. READ MORE
Tim Tebow versus Joel Osteen
Posted on Sunday, January 15, 2012
I have a friend who is an addict. It breaks my heart how he continually makes bad choices. I have not supported his bad choices and he has said many things calculated to hurt me –mostly via text message. Even if untrue or with only shades of truth, words from those you love hurt the most. That is one of the many things that make divorce in the Bible belt of Mississippi (or anywhere for that matter) so freaking hard. READ MORE
My Dog Wears a Sweater
Posted on Friday, December 23, 2011
We live in great abundance in the United States. It is hard to understand this until you visit a poor country like I had the opportunity to do earlier this year when I traveled to South Africa to work in orphan care at the epicenter of the world AIDS pandemic. Notwithstanding that amazing trip, which you can read about here, it was easy to settle back into my routine of abundance. This is evidenced, in part, by the fact that my dog wears a sweater. I try to tell folks that he is my “man dog” or that he is my “hunting dog”, but the truth is –well, you know what the truth is. He is, to say the least, a luxury. For goodness sakes he is wearing a sweater! READ MORE
The Parasite
Posted on Monday, December 19, 2011
I get inspired for these little articles, aka rants, from all different sorts of crazy places. This week, it comes from an official looking note on orange paper being sent home with Emma about a breakout of lice in her classroom. When I was a kid…. Yep, I got them. My little tail was sent home from school after an examination from my teacher with a sharpened pencil. It was very embarrassing and getting rid of them was a long, annoying, time consuming process. READ MORE
Top 5 Places People that Cheat Meet
Posted on Tuesday, November 15, 2011
If you have read much of what I have written, you know that while adultery causes a lot of divorces, it is usually not the primary reason a marriage fails. The failed marriage leads to cheating --it is a symptom of the disease in most cases, not the disease itself. Nevertheless, where people that cheat meet is pretty predictable, and I thought I would spend a few minutes talking about them. READ MORE
The South Africa Essay: Conclusion
Posted on Thursday, November 10, 2011
Today will be our heaviest day. We are going to the heart of Sweetwaters to visit the Hope Center where kids from the community live that cannot go home. They also distribute food on Fridays. We have a window in the otherwise terrible weather to get in. Narrow dirt roads and the hilly terrain make travel difficult. Before we go, we head to Tabitha to participate in the daily worship. Everyone attends. The children carry plastic chairs on their heads and line them out for us. The singing is transcendent. Hands are raised in the air and the smiles are big. The workers are angelic. Their worn shoes hardly touch the ground as they clap and sway. The children join the celebration. READ MORE
