Bay St. Louis Family Law Attorneys

Bay St. Louis has a slightly higher than average divorce rate: just over 16%. Not one wants to go through a divorce, but unfortunately, sometimes it’s unavoidable. As divorce lawyers in Bay St. Louis, we know that family law concerns are often fraught with stress, anxiety, and fear. We are here to support you during this time, handle the drafting and filing of legal documents, and negotiate agreements that protect your best interests. To talk about your case in greater detail, call Holcomb & Russell at 228-432-6652.

How the Holcomb & Associates Team Can Help You

While strong representation is important in any legal matter, few areas of law are quite as essential to your quality of life as family law. The choices and legal agreements made during a divorce, child custody dispute, child support agreement, or division of assets can have a long-reaching impact on your life. These decisions will shape your relationship with your children, your financial stability, and how you begin your next chapter in life.

At Holcomb & Associates, we don’t just review the facts of your case and give recommendations on how we think you should proceed. We’ll really listen to the results you hope to achieve, advise you on different ways to reach those goals, and then help you pursue them. No two family law cases are the same, so our approach changes with every single client to best meet their needs.

After we’ve figured out what you want and how to get it, we’ll take it from there. Our team will work tirelessly to prepare court documents, take care of temporary support orders, get negotiations rolling, and begin the process of building your case.

It’s no secret that family law can be an emotional and combative area of law—there’s a lot at stake. We serve as a calm and objective third party, and we’re committed to using our expertise and knowledge to advocate for you.

The Cases We Handle

Our Bay St. Louis family law team handles a wide variety of family law cases, including:

•       Divorce

•       Child custody

•       Child support

•       Division of assets

•       Alimony

•       Guardianships and adoptions

Divorce in Mississippi

Divorce in Mississippi is somewhat different from divorce in many other states. While most states do not allow for fault divorce, Mississippi does. If one party has essentially ended the marriage through their behavior, the other party may be able to request a fault divorce.

Grounds for divorce in Mississippi include:

•       Adultery

•       Cruelty/violence

•       Drug or alcohol addiction

•       Desertion

•       Incurable insanity

•       Conviction of a crime

•       One party was already married at the time of the wedding

•       Parties are related by blood

You do not have to assign fault to get divorced. Mississippi also allows for no-fault divorce on the grounds of irreconcilable differences.

To end a marriage, you’ll need to work through a long list of issues that will be included in your divorce settlement. These include the division of assets, child custody, child support, and spousal support.

Since so many of these issues are emotionally charged, it’s crucial that both parties have their own attorneys to represent them. Attempting to negotiate these issues on your own can delay the process, weaken your co-parenting relationship, and actually lead to a worse outcome for you.

Child Custody and Support

Divorced and unmarried parents must have an enforceable custody schedule that reflects the best interests of the child. In most cases where the parties can come up with a schedule that suits them, the court will accept it and make it court-ordered.

If the parents cannot agree on custody, the court will make the decision for them. The court considers many different factors, including each parent’s ability to provide a stable home, the child’s schedule prior to the split, and each parent’s ability to meet the needs of the child in their current stage of development.

Mississippi also recognizes a grandparent’s right to request reasonable visitation with a grandchild if there is a divorce, separation, or death of a parent. A grandparent may also request visitation if they provided financial support for at least six months or had frequent visitation with the child.

While many states look at both parents’ income while deciding on child support, Mississippi only looks at the non-custodial parent’s income in their child support guidelines. A non-custodial parent with one child will pay 15% of their adjusted gross income, 20% for two children, 22% for three children, 24% for four children, and 26% for five or more children.

These guidelines may not apply if the non-custodial parent’s adjusted gross income is more than $100,000 per year or less than $10,000 per year. In Mississippi, the age of majority is 21, so child support payments continue until that age.

A variety of factors may call for deviation from these guidelines. They include extraordinary healthcare expenses, spousal support payments, the child’s age, and special needs of the child if the custody agreement involves the non-custodial parent spending a substantial amount of time with the child and both parents’ assets.

Alimony

Mississippi courts may grant periodic or lump sum alimony. Lump sum alimony is a fixed amount that is paid out either in set payments or in one lump sum. Periodic alimony is a set amount that is paid on a predetermined schedule with no end amount. While periodic alimony does end when the receiving spouse remarries, lump sum alimony does not.

Discuss Your Family Law Needs with Holcomb & Associates

As you start to prepare for a divorce, an upcoming custody dispute, or another family law issue, don’t take it on alone. Trust the team at Holcomb & Associates during this challenging time and let us advocate for you as we negotiate an agreement on your behalf. Get started by setting up a consultation now—just call us at 228-432-6652