Family law
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Child Custody
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Child Custody actions are the hardest decisions a Chancellor will have to make in the Chancery Court room.
There are several forms of custody in Mississippi.
1. Joint physical and legal custody to both parents.
2. Joint physical with one parent having paramount legal custody.
3. Joint legal with one parent having paramount physical custody.
4. Physical and legal custody to one parent only
5. Physical and legal custody to a third party such as a grandparent.
Physical Custody basically means those time periods where a child resides with and is under the care and supervision of one of the parents.
Legal Custody means that parent has the decision making rights for the child on all major issues relating to the health, education and welfare of the child.
Joint Physical Custody means that each of the parents have significant time of physical custody of the minor child.
Joint Legal Custody means that each of the parents share in the important decisions relating to the health, education and welfare of the child.
When a Chancellor or Judge must make a decision concerning which parent will have primary custody of the child, the main consideration is what is in the best interest of the minor child. There are numerous reported decisions on what constitutes the best interest of the child and the Chancellor will consider a number of factors such as:
1. Age of the child
2. Health and sex of the child
3. Who was the main caregiver of the child before the parents separated
4. Who has the best parenting skills
5. Who has the capacity to provide for the needs of the child
6. The employment responsibilities of the parents
7. The moral fitness of each parent
8. The home, school and community record of the child
9. The child’s preference as to which parent they want to live with
10. The stability of the home environment and employment of each parent
11. Other important and relevant factors.
The overall polestar consideration is what is best for the child. Sometimes in custody proceedings, a Guardian ad Litem will be appointed by the Court to be the child’s attorney and report to the judge what is best for the child.
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Child Support
In a divorce or modification of custody, the Court will issue an award of child support. In most situations, this is not a complex matter and statutory guidelines exist that determine the award of child support.
Mississippi law sets the following guideline as the rebuttable presumption of the correct amount of child support. If
one parent is awarded primary physical custody, with the other parent having visitation rights, then the parent who has visitation rights will usually pay the custodial parent the following amount for child support:
1 child equals 14% of the adjustable gross income
2 children equals 20%
3 children equals 22%
4 children equals 24%
5 children equals 26%
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Conservatorships
Should you have a family member become mentally or physically weak, an attorney can assist you through this difficult time.
Conservatorships are a tool used to assist people who are incapable of managing their own affairs and estate due to advanced age, physical incapacity or mental weakness. By establishing a conservatorship through the chancery court, you allow for the protection of your loved ones and their assets and estate without the stigma of having them legally declared mentally incompetent.
Divorce
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In Mississippi, there are two ways to obtain a divorce: an agreed divorce termed irreconcilable differences or a contested divorce. An agreed divorce is the fastest and least stressful. You and your spouse will file a joint complaint for divorce in a Mississippi Court. This complaint must remain on file for sixty (60) days before the Court will grant a divorce which determines adequate provisions for the support of any children and for the settlement of assets/property rights between you and your spouse.
In a contested divorce, one party must file a complaint for divorce alleging a fault ground. Mississippi has twelve grounds for contested divorces: natural impotency, being sent to a penitentiary, adultery, desertion, habitual drunkenness, habitual and excessive use of drugs, habitual cruelty, insanity, marriage to someone else at the time of the pretended marriage, pregnancy of wife by another person at time of marriage, relationship with prohibited decrees of kindred, and incurable insanity.
At the hearing of the contested divorce, the chancellor will consider and issue an order that determines the following: custody and visitation with any children, child support, health care, medical expenses, education and child care, division of the accumulated assets during the marriage, insurance, and other matters before the court.
Modifications
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A Modification Action can be brought in chancery court to modify a prior court order or decree. As a general rule, the party returns to the same court which originally issued the prior order as that court is deemed to have continuing and exclusive jurisdiction over the matter.
The most common modification actions are on child support, education and visitation matters. You can agree to the modification with your former spouse, and have a joint petition for modification filed and then submit an agreed order to the court. These happen most often concerning visitation or changes in custody due to special circumstances of the parents.
Modification actions can also be brought by one party filing a petition for modification with the court. For instance, if you are paying child support and lost your job or obtained a lower paying job, then you can petition the court for a downward deviation of the child support you have to pay each month. Conversely, if you receive child support payments each month on behalf of your child and your former spouse is making more income than when the court first granted the child support award, then you can bring a modification action for an increased amount of child support on behalf of the child.
The obtain a modification, you have to show a material or substantial change in circumstance of one of the parties.
In deciding whether to award a modification, a chancellor will consider the following: increased needs of children, increase in expenses, inflation, earning capacity of the parties, health and special needs of the child, health and special needs of the parents, necessary living expenses of the father and mother, and estimated income taxes each party must pay.
Name Changes
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Birth Certificate Amendments
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