Recent Appellate Decision

On Tuesday, the Mississippi Court of Appeals handed down Cupp v. Cupp located here.  I got involved in the case post trial when Mr. Cupp appealed.  I was retained to represent Ms. Cupp.  There are two issues of interest in this case.  One deals with the martial home and the other deals with contempt.  In this case, the Court of Appeals affirmed the chancellor finding that the martial home was not separate property due to Ms. Cupp's contributions and improvements to it even though the home was purchased prior to the marriage.  The other issue is that this is one of the few cases that show a defense of contempt where it is impossible to comply with the Court order.  The Court of Appeals found that the chancellor was correct in not holding Ms. Cupp in contempt as the Court order was impossible literally to comply with.  This case is worth a read.