Just the Facts Newsletter - November 6, 2014 - Volume 1 Issue 1

Education:

LOWREY &
FORTNER P.A.

Education:

Doctor of Law (JD) - Mississippi College School of

Law
Doctor of Jurisprudence Mississippi College School
of Law
Bachelor of science - University of Southern Mississippi

Juris Doctorate - Tulane

University Law School
Bachelors of Arts - University of Southern Mississippi

Areas of Practice:

Commercial Litigation, Electronic Transactions, Contracts,

Arbitration, Corporate Law,
Estate Planning, Family Law

Areas of Practice:
Arbitration, Family Law

Education:

Just the Facts Newsletter - November 6, 2014 - Volume 1 Issue 1

Divorce (1)
Child Custody (2)
Child Support (2)

Contents

Adoption (3)
Estate Planning (3)
Attorney Profiles (4)

Education:

Juris Doctorate - University

of Mississippi School of
Law
Bachelor of Arts - Tulane
University

Juris Doctorate - Tulane

Law School
Bachelor of Science - University of Southern Mississippi

Areas of Practice:

Area(s) of Practice:

Civil Litigation

All criminal cases in all

Jurisdiction of that state and
federal court.

Lowrey & Fortner, P.A.

525 Corinne Street
Hattiesburg, MS 39401

CLIENT

Page 4

Divorce:
Divorce (or the dissolution of marriage) is the
termination of a marital union, the canceling
and/or reorganizing of the legal duties and
responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the
bonds of matrimony between a married couple
under the rule of law of the particular country
and/or state.

visitation / access, parenting time, child support,

distribution of property, and division of debt.
In most countries monogamy is required by law,
so divorce allows each former partner to marry
another; where polygyny is legal but polyandry
is not, divorce allows the woman to
marry a new husband.

Divorce should not be confused with annulment, which declares the marriage null and
void; with legal separation (a legal process by
which a married couple may formalize a de facto
separation while remaining legally married) or
with de facto separation (a process where the
spouses informally stop cohabiting). Divorce
laws vary considerably around the world, but in
most countries it requires the sanction of a court
or other authority in a legal process. The legal
process of divorce may also involve issues of
alimony (spousal support), child custody, child

Divorce can be a stressful experience: affecting finances, living arrangements, household

jobs, schedules, parenting and the outcomes of
children of the marriage as they face each stage
of development from childhood to adulthood. If
the family includes children, they may be deeply
affected.[1]

Page 1

The only countries that do not allow divorce are

the Philippines and the Vatican City, has no
procedure for divorce. Countries that have relatively recently legalized divorce are Italy (1970),

Portugal (1975), Brazil (1977), Spain (1981),

Argentina (1987),[2] Ireland (1996), Chile (2004)
[3] and Malta (2011).
Though divorce laws vary between jurisdictions,
there are two basic approaches to divorce: fault
based and no-fault based. In some jurisdictions
one spouse may be forced to pay the attorneys
fees of another spouse.

Just the Facts Newsletter - November 6, 2014 - Volume 1 Issue 1

Just the Facts Newsletter - November 6, 2014 - Volume 1 Issue 1

Child Custody &

Child Support:
personal values, and lifestyles.While any
one may be a strong reason to base the
custody decision, judges must look at the
whole picture in determining what is in
the best interest of the child. One standard rule is to keep siblings together.

Child Custody:
One of the most serious aspects in a divorce is child custody. When a chancery
court judge considers custody issues, the
overriding question is What is in the
best interest of the child?
Both parents have equal rights to the
child, so a judge considers several factors in custody matters. These include
the health and sex of the child, the
primary caregiver prior to the divorce,
parenting skills and willingness to
care for the child, the emotional ties
between child and parent, and each
parents moral fitness.
Some factors that previously weighed
heavily on the judges decision are now
balanced against other considerations.
Examples include the age of the child, a
parents employment that involves long
absences from home, immoral conduct
of a parent, and differences between the
parents in financial position, religion,

A child age 12 or above may tell the judge

his or her preference for custody if the
court considers both parents fit. The
judge, however, is not bound by the
childs preference.
A judge awards both physical and legal
custody. Physical custody is where the
child actually lives. Legal custody gives a
parent the decision-making authority concerning the childs health, education and
welfare. The judge may grant either or
both custody designations to both parents,
one parent, or a third party.
If one parent receives physical and legal
custody, the judge grants visitation rights
to the other parent, unless it is not in the
childs best interest.
A third party receives custody only when
the court finds that it is in the best interest of
the child because of the parents abandonment, immorality, mental problems, or other
reasons harmful to the child. Grandparents
receive no special consideration over other
third parties in these cases, but they may
petition the court for visitation rights in
situations of divorce, termination of parental
rights, or the death of one of the parents.

Estate Planning:

Child Support:
Legal cases involving money, divorce,
or child custody historically have been
some of the most painful and emotional
in our courts of law. Child support cases
involve all three issues. Although a large
majority of child support cases involve
a fathers ability or willingness to pay
support, everyone pays a cost in this
emotionally-charged arena. Knowing the
rights and responsibilities of child support
arrangements can help avoid potential
confrontations.

When it comes time to plan where all of your

assets will go it is important to find an attorney who will listen closely to your desires. At
Lowrey & Fortner, P.A., our attorneys pride
themselves on the individual care and help
they give each client.

Parents facing child support obligations, whether as a custodial parent or

a supporting parent, should be aware of
Mississippis child support laws to protect
themselves and prepare for any potential
changes in their situation. Assuming the
typical roles of custodial mothers and
supportive fathers, each should be knowledgeable of several points of law.

Our law firm is experienced in:

State and federal laws consider paying child

support a serious responsibility. With only 69
percent of all child support awards actually paid
nationwide, federal and state governments have
aggressively stepped up their child support enforcement efforts. A supportive parents unwillingness to pay child support can result in a wage
withholding order against his/her salary or a
punishment of up to two years in jail. However,
if the supportive parent is destitute and unable
to pay, the court may not sanction him/her.

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Your estate plan will include where you

want your land, home, business, employee
benefits and life insurance will go. You estate
plan will also outline the directions on your
healthcare wishes in case of your incapacity
to do so yourself.

Simple and complex wills

Probate litigation
Probate administration
Durable powers of attorney and
healthcare directives
Advance directives and living wills
Living, irrevocable and charitable
remainder trusts
Asset protection
Contested estate proceeding
Interpretation of wills
Will contest of invalid wills
Undue influence and lack of
capacity
Setting aside invalid deeds
Breach of warranty deed

Its never too early, or too late to start planning your estate.
An estate is the net worth of a person at any
point in time alive or dead. It is the sum of a
persons assets legal rights, interests and

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entitlements to property of any kind less

all liabilities at that time. The issue is of
special legal significance on a question of
bankruptcy and death of the person. (See
inheritance.)
Depending on the particular context, the
term is also used in reference to an estate
in land or of a particular kind of property
(such as real estate or personal estate). The
term is also used to refer to the sum of a
persons assets only.
Inheritence:
In context of probate, the estate of a deceased person consists of all the property,
whether real or personal, owned by the
person at the time of death. Assets that pass
to somebody else by operation of law (for example, property held on a joint tenancy basis),
do not form part of the deceased estate,
even though the person had rights to that
property during his or her lifetime. Also,
if the deceased owned life insurance and
nominated a beneficiary of the policy, the
proceeds of that policy would not pass
into the deceaseds estate, but would go
directly to the nominated beneficiary.
Similarly, superannuation death benefits
can go directly to a deceaseds dependent,
bypassing the deceaseds estate. (See will
and intestacy) The estate of a deceased person
is administered by an executor (in the case of a
will) or administrator (in the case of intestacy).
The function of the executor and administrator is to protect the assets of the estate,
pay out all expenses and the decedents

liabilities and distribute the balance in accordance with the directions in the will. An
estate (or decedent estate) is a legal entity
created as a result of a persons death.
The estate consists of the real and/or personal property of the deceased person. The
estate pays any debts owed by the decedent
and distributes the balance of the estates
assets to the beneficiaries of the estate. An
estate arises on a persons death whether
the person died with or without a will.
Equitable Estates:
Superimposed on the legal estate and interests in land, English courts also created
equitable interests over the same legal
interests. These obligations are called trusts
which will be enforceable in a court. A
trustee is the person who holds the legal
title to property, while the beneficiary is
said to have an equitable interest in the
property.