STUDENT WRITING COMPETITION
Conclusion Gambling addictions should be considered in all family law proceedings to better protect children. While not all gambling addictions can be considered just mild or just severe, that addiction should still be considered during family law hearings involving the children. If a parent’s gambling addiction is not severe, and it has not detrimentally impacted their children, then a court’s consideration of that addiction should not change anything, even the moral fitness element of Albright. But if that addiction has become so severe that it has hurt the addict’s children in some way, then the court must consider it when making termination, custody, or visitation decisions. Since the decisions are important in ensuring children are safe, all factors that could adversely impact them must be considered.
and infamous. The chancellor found that Mr. Smith’s gambling addiction drove him further than just squandering the money he shared with his wife, making it acceptable to grant the divorce. Gambling is also considered in divorce proceedings when property and assets are being divided. Smith also discusses marital assets, or money between spouses and gambling.87 The court determined that Mr. Smith was required to compensate Mrs. Smith “$157,000, representing one-half of his total gambling losses.”88 The court in Lowrey also determined that when a spouse wasted money in excess of how much their share marital estate would have been, the offending spouse is not entitled to an equitable distribution.89 Even with gambling addiction being considered in various aspects divorce hearings, it is still not a ground itself: it must be detrimental to the marriage and marital property.
TAMERA PARSON J.D. Candidate, 2023, University of Mississippi School of Law She may be contacted through her LinkedIn www. linkedin.com/in/tamera- parson-028110202/
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker