Actor Morgan Freeman and his wife Myrna Colley-Lee finalized their divorce last week in Mississippi. The divorce was settled before trial. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Freeman married Colley-Lee in July 1984. After 23 years of marriage, they separated in December 2007, and filed for divorce in August 2008.

The former couple have no children together; Freeman has two sons from previous relationships, and two children (including an adopted daughter) from his first marriage to Jeanette Bradshaw.

The divorce was filed within a week of a single car accident involving Freeman back in August 2008. A car Freeman was driving in Mississippi ran off the road and flipped several times, injuring the actor and his female companion, Demaris Meyer. Freeman lives in Charleston, Mississippi and owns a restaurant and nightclub in Clarksdale, Mississippi.

Freeman settled a lawsuit brought by Meyer last year. Meyer claimed she was unfairly branded as “the other woman” following the crash and “accused of having caused the breakup of Mr. Freeman’s marriage.”

If the divorce had not been settled, trial would probably have been relatively dramatic due to Mississippi’s divorce laws. Mississippi has a no-fault divorce provision that can only be used if both parties agree to use it and agree to all other issues such as spousal support and property division. If the estranged spouses have not reached an agreement at the time the divorce is filed, the filing party must cite one of the Mississippi’s statutory grounds for divorce. Adultery, cruel and inhuman treatment and desertion are among the most commonly used grounds.

Whichever ground or grounds were pleaded in the filing would then have to be proven at trial. Testimony relating to adultery, cruelty or desertion would most likely have been embarrassing for Freeman.

Library Topics: divorce, settlement, Mississippi family law, spousal support, no-fault divorce, property division, adultery

See Also:

• Actor Morgan Freeman Divorcing