Mississippi No Fault Divorce

The law of this state permits fault divorces, no fault divorces with contested issues and no fault divorces. No fault divorce with contested issues means that both divorcing partners accede with each other to have the divorce, but cannot reach a consensus regarding issues like property division, child custody etc. No fault divorce means that both parties agree to have a divorce on the basis of irreconcilable differences.

Grounds of Mississippi No Fault Divorce

The singular ground for this sort of divorce is that the marriage has been irretrievably broken down due to incompatibility of temperament or irreconcilable differences.

Residency requirements of Mississippi No Fault Divorce

Immediately prior to the date of filing the divorce papers, the divorcing partner, who files the divorce papers, must be residing in this state for minimum 6 months.

Mississippi Code of 1972

The Mississippi Legislature passed the statute related to No Fault divorce in 1976. The operative statute regarding this sort of divorce is Miss Code 93-5-2 Mississippi Code of 1972. This code consists of the following sections.

Section 1

Both the divorcing partners must accede with each other to have a No Fault divorce.

Section 2

The divorcing parties should prepare a written agreement that comprises of the following issues.

• Settlement of property rights
• Maintenance and custody of the child(ren)

Section 3

When the divorcing partners cannot reach an agreement regarding the issues of the divorce, they may give their consent to permit the court to determine marital property issues, support and custody issues.

Section 4

The duration for which the complaint for no fault divorce must be on file is 60 days.

It must be kept in mind that although the divorcing couple accedes to the provisions in the written agreement, this does not indicate that the Judge should approve it. The written agreement must be scrutinized by the court. The court carefully considers all the issues of the written agreement and reserves the right to disapprove any or all of them.

• The provisions pertaining to equitable division, alimony and property rights
• Whether the child support amount is according to the guidelines?
• Whether the provisions pertaining to visitation and child custody are in the best interests of the child(ren)?

It is advisable to submit the written agreement to an experienced family law professional as this professional would be able to locate the possible problems that are a concern for the Judge.

Some aspects of Mississippi No Fault Divorce

• The venue for filing the divorce action is the Chancery Court in the county
• The divorcing partner who files the action for divorce is called as the Plaintiff or Petitioner or Complainant
• The other divorcing partner is termed as the Respondent or the Defendant
• The county in which either the Respondent resides or the Petitioner resides is chosen for filing the complaint that is based on irreconcilable differences
• Consider a complaint for divorce on the grounds of irreconcilable differences. This must be on file for 60 days, after which the hearing can be scheduled.
• The child support guidelines are based on the number of children
  • 26 percent of adjusted gross income of parents for 5 or more children
  • 24 percent for 4 children
  • 22 percent for 3 children
  • 20 percent for 2 children
  • 14 percent for 1 child

Divorce Papers