Mississippi Wills, Trusts, and Probate

It is important to construct an estate plan that will stand the test of time and protect your loved ones. This estate plan may be comprised of a variety of documents, such as a durable power of attorney, will, trust, advanced care directive and healthcare surrogate designation.

Once you have an estate plan, keep your plan up to date and make changes whenever significant events occur in your life, such as marriage, divorce, the birth of children, retirement, or death. Making such revisions will ensure that your wishes are accurately recorded in writing and current. A Mississippi will lawyer can help you revise your will in accordance with your wishes.

Mississippi Will

Draft your will precisely in accordance with Mississippi law, or you run the risk that your assets will not be distributed as you would like. Contact a Mississippi estates lawyer to ensure that you have met the requisite will requirements. Mississippi law states that for a valid will you must have:

1. Witnesses: Two or more witnesses must sign a testator’s will in front of the testator, and observe the testator sign the will himself. If a witness is also a beneficiary to the will, the will is still valid, but the gift in the will to that witness is void.
2. Notarization: Your Mississippi will does not have to be notarized, although some other states may require notarization. But, if your witnesses sign an affidavit swearing that they witnessed the testator sign the will and signed the will themselves, the will is self-proving and will automatically be admitted to probate. In the absence of a self-proving will, the original witnesses must attest to the will in probate court.

Changing a Will in Mississippi

Change your will in Mississippi by (a) writing an entirely new will that better expresses your wishes and revoking the old will by physically destroying it or by stating in writing that it is revoked; (b) write amendments to your will on a separate piece of paper and attach the piece of paper to your will. This is called a codicil.

The proper number of witnesses, signatures and other formalities for a will must be met with a codicil or a new will in order for the codicil or will to be valid under Mississippi law. Contact a Mississippi will lawyer if you alter or make a new will.

Mississippi Trust

In lieu or in addition to a will, you should think about constructing a trust through which to distribute your assets after your death. Trusts are easily adaptable to your situation and can be revocable or irrevocable depending on your desires. A Mississippi trusts attorney can help you set up a trust for a variety of purposes, including (non-exclusive) charity, education, special needs, or life insurance.

Mississippi Probate

When a Mississippi citizen dies without a will, the state of Mississippi will distribute the estate by intestate succession. This means that the allocation of the decedent’s assets will be based on each person’s familial relationship to the decedent.

If the testator is ambiguous in his will about who should get certain property, or if the decedent does not leave a will, any person interested in the distribution of the estate may ask the probate court to make a determination about who should receive property from the estate and in what amount.

If your estate is worth $50,000 or less, an interested party may file a Small Estate Affidavit within 30 days after your death. If you file a Small Estate Affidavit you will not have to endure the formal probate procedure.

The decedent’s relations may have an interest in his estate when the estate is distributed by intestate succession:

1. Spouses
2. Descendants – children, grandchildren
3. Parents
4. Brothers and sisters
5. Maternal and paternal grandparents
6. Aunts and uncles
7. Half Blood
8. After-born heirs
9. Adopted Persons, persons born out of wedlock

• Some of the decedent’s property does not pass through probate:
  • non-probate assets – property may go directly to the beneficiary and avoid probate if the will or trust names an unambiguous recipient of the property;
  • contract assets – money set-aside in contracts made during the decedent’s life. These may include life insurance policies, IRAs, and inter vivos trusts; and,
  • jointly held property –property owned by both the deceased and other parties. Upon the death of one party, the assets pass automatically to the other parties. Such assets include bank accounts, cars, and/or houses.

After a will has been formulated, there is still a possibility that someone may challenge the will. Talk to a Mississippi probate lawyer with experience in probate law if you are anxious about the durability of your will or have any questions about the probate process.

Mississippi Statutes

Mississippi Code, Title 91 – Trusts and Estates

1. Probate Code: Wills
   • Mississippi Code, Tit. 91, Chp. 5.
2. Probate Code: Intestate Succession
   • Mississippi Code, Tit. 91, Chp. 1.
3. Probate Code: Administration of Estates
   • Mississippi Code, Tit. 91, Chp. 7.
4. Mississippi Trust Code
   • Mississippi Code, Tit. 91, Chp. 9.