Virtual affair leads to real-life divorce

A husband in England was recently caught cheating on his wife. The hitch, it was on-line through a virtual game. According to the article, the husband was having "an affair" with another woman on "Second Life" even though they never met in person. In the game, they were actually married. Wife finds out about the virtual affair and files for divorce. You can't make this stuff up.

Gifting those beaten down stocks?

As folks across the country opened up their brokerage statements, one thing was apparent--their stocks are worth less than they were the previous month or year. With the dramatic decline in the stock market, many are holding stocks whose value has declined substantially. What to do? Well, this article in the Wall-Street Journal suggest you might consider gifting those stocks to family members as the tax benefit from the gift is that much greater.

With a new administration taking over the White House, Democrats controlling Congress, and the previous administration's estate and gift tax measures reaching the end of their life cycle, most experts agree we can expect new estate and gift tax policies in 2009. One does not need a crystal ball to suspect the tax savings in the previous legislation will probably erode. The question is how much. So during these trying economic times, the advice in the Wall-Street Journal may be the best route for your battered stocks.

If you are interested in discussing estate planning strategies, call the Kisselburgh Law Firm at 601-936-4040 or contact us online to set up a consultation.

To all those who have served this country and to those who are currently serving either home or abroad, thank you for your service to our country. And a special thanks to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in giving of their life in defense of this country.

To all others, please take time today to remember our soldiers, sailors, and airman. Through their sacrifices, you and I are able to do what we do today.

All of us can breath a sigh of relief. After today, we have a bit of a reprieve before the television airways are filled again with political advertisements. Today is our day—our day to make our choice known. So whatever you stand for and whomever you support, go to the polls and cast your ballot.

“People often say that, in a democracy, decisions are made by a majority of the people. Of course, that is not true. Decisions are made by a majority of those who make themselves heard and who vote - a very different thing.”

Go out today and be a part of the majority who make themselves heard. If you are not sure where you are supposed to vote in Mississippi, click here to find your local polling location. You need to know your precinct code. If you do not, contact your County Circuit Clerk.

Some parents will do anything to keep from paying child support

Here is an amazing story about a New York Dad who will do anything to keep from paying child support. Just before the divorce was finalized, he quit his $40,000 a year job and took a 55% pay cut. He claims he quit his job to spend more time with his son, but it doesn’t appear the ploy worked. To date, he owes around $90,000.00 in child support, had his driver’s license suspended, and been jailed twice. Now he has threatened to go on a hunger strike if he is jailed again.

For those who think that voluntarily quitting your job in Mississippi will keep you from paying child support, think again. As the Mississippi Supreme Court has stated, a pre-existing child support obligation cannot be reduced due to the parent’s “voluntary termination of employment.” Bailey v. Bailey, 724 So.2d 335 (Miss. 1998).

For those responsible for paying child support, if you lost your job or had an involuntary pay reduction, you need to go to Court and seek a modification of the child support. But seek the modification now, not after you are behind on child support payments. The judge will be more receptive if you are proactive as opposed to coming to Court after your ex-spouse hauls you before the judge for contempt for failure to pay child support.

The Wall Street Journal recently published a good article on special needs trusts, sometimes called supplemental trusts. If you have a child with a disability or special needs, you need to read this article as well as plan your estate appropriately. At the Kisselburgh Law Firm, we can assist you in your estate planning needs, including special needs trusts. If you would like to schedule a consultation, please contact our office so we can discuss the options available to you and your loved ones.

Reading like a headline out of the National Enquirer, this case out of Canada leaves more questions than provides answers. Here are the facts as related in the story.

• Man and woman have sex;


• Woman has baby nine months later;


• Woman seeks child support from Man who was father;


• Man countersues claiming he did not consent to the sexual relations;


• Man claims he was asleep;


• When he woke up, he found the woman having sex with him;


• Man immediately "demanded that she cease and desist."


• Man wants to recover past child support paid.

Read the story for yourself here.

Judge to Husband--check or jail!

An man upset with the judge's ruling awarding his ex-wife $5,000 in lump sum alimony decided to seek some revenge. He delivered the $5,000 in a barrel containing 500,000 pennies. The ex-wife was not amused nor was the judge. Judge's order--"Pay by cashier's check or go to jail."

Divorce can be financially and emotionally draining. Emotions often run high during divorce litigation and these emotions create roadblocks to resolution. The longer a case drags on, the more expensive it becomes. The cost of even a one or two day trial can be staggering.

More and more couples in Mississippi are resolving their cases by mediation well before their trial date, saving thousands of dollars and many months of heartache and stress. Divorce mediation is an alternative to a trial. Parties can voluntarily choose to mediate or be ordered by the court to participate in mediation. A mediator is a neutral third party who listens to each person’s positions and concerns and helps them find a mutually acceptable common ground on which to resolve their divorce, custody or support litigation.

What is standard visitation?

Although shared physical custody is occurring more now than in the past, the typical child custody situation following divorce in Mississippi is an order of joint legal custody (decision-making authority) and primary physical custody to one parent with reasonable visitation to the other.

But what is “reasonable”? Most courts in Mississippi do not have written guidelines for visitation schedules. Reasonable visitation varies from case to case and the chancellor has a lot of discretion as to what is reasonable. The paramount test is “what is in the best interest of the child” and that can change depending on the age of the child. Some chancellors feel longer visits for younger children are not in the best interest of the child. Additionally, if you work the third shift Tuesday through Saturday or if you work four ten hour shifts at the hospital on varying days, an “every other weekend” approach may not work for you and your children.

Prenuptial Agreements--protecting your assets before divorce

Contrary to popular belief, prenuptial agreements aren’t only for the rich and famous. A prenuptial agreement (also called a premarital or antenuptial agreement – just to make things more confusing!) can be very useful for many couples, especially those who have had time to accumulate any assets at all and for those with children from previous relationships.

Generally, in the event of a divorce, a Mississippi court will divide “marital assets” between husband and wife in a fair and equitable manner. Property acquired or accumulated during the course of the marriage is considered “marital.” Inheritances and the assets that each party owned prior to the marriage are usually considered “non-marital” property which will be set aside to its original owner in a divorce.

It may be time to review your Will

Chances are that you have a Will somewhere that you had drawn up when your children were born. Depending on how long ago that was, you should probably dig it out, review it and then talk to an attorney about updating your estate plan to account for your current family situation.

It may be that nothing much has changed. Or you may have gotten a divorce several years back, even gotten remarried but never changed your estate planning documents to reflect these major life changes.

Working together for your children--joint or shared physical custody

Shared physical custody of children following a divorce has become more prevalent over the last decade. While joint legal custody (which provides joint decision-making authority for the child) is quite often ordered by the courts, joint physical custody is still relatively unusual.

Joint or shared physical custody means that each parent has significant periods of physical custody of the child. The schedule could allow for monthly, weekly or other regular transitions between parents. The court takes a very close look at the circumstances to determine if such an arrangement would be in the best interest of the child.

Think you have it bad?

A Nigerian man has been ordered to divorce 82 of his 86 wives or face the death penalty. Under the law, he is only entitled to have 4 wives. Amazing. Click here to read this strange story.

Parental Alienation--pitting your child against the other parent

Parental alienation – a hot topic in family law across the nation - is defined as a systematic alienation of a child from one parent, purposely caused by the other parent. A poisoning, if you will, of the child against a parent because of the words and actions of the other.

More and more, courts are being called on to review custody and visitation arrangements based on claims of parental alienation. In Mississippi, it is very unusual for primary physical custody to be modified based on interference with custody or visitation alone. Unusual but not impossible, especially when programmed parental alienation can be proved.