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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
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It has been a while since I sat down to write a blog article.
