Reese Witherspoon's Mom Files Suit Over Dad's Alleged Bigamy

Reese Witherspoon's mother, Mary Elizabeth, has taken legal action against her father John in Tennessee, for committing bigamy by taking a new wife while still married to her.

John, 70, married 60-year-old Tricianne Taylor in a "country-themed" wedding in January, according to a certificate of marriage attached to the legal papers, and the Oscar winner's mom has filed a petition for annulment, stating in her affidavit:

"No person in Tennessee can marry another while being married at the same time of the second marriage. I love my husband and I don't want a divorce. We have been married 42 years. He needs help. He has a problem with alcohol. He also has a problem with hoarding, which led to our separation in 1996."

Mrs. Witherspoon also stated that they have lived in separate households since 2003, and John, an ear-nose-and-throat specialist, was recently "let go" from the medical practice due to personal problems, including depression.

Apparently the retired nurse and university professor found out about her husband's marriage from a wedding announcement in the local newspaper and, "When I confronted my husband, he said he didn't know who Tricianne Taylor was and that he did not remember getting married," she says in the affidavit.

John attempted to bring Taylor to Reese's wedding to Jim Toth last April, but security would not let her in because she was not on the guest list, according to the affidavit.

Mrs. Witherspoon is also worried her husband's new wife will attempt to "transfer marital assets" and that she tried contacting the woman but she refused to talk to her.

"I wrote her a letter stating that John Witherspoon was married and had two children and four grandchildren. I have had no response. But she clearly knows now that she is married to a man who is not divorced," she confessed.

The Witherspoons appeared to be a happy family when Reese received her star on The Walk of Fame on December 2, 2010, with her mom and dad sitting together, alongside Jim Toth.