On September 18, 2025, the Mississippi Supreme Court issued its opinion in In re Estate of Herbert Bernard Ivison, Jr. (No. 2024-CA-00421-SCT), affirming the Scott County Chancery Court’s decision to deny Malouf & Malouf, PLLC’s attempt to recover past-due compound interest on unpaid legal fees.[1] The ruling in the instant case provides helpful guidance on…
Read More
When receiving a bequest, many people question whether they will be subject to income tax.[1] As a basic matter, an individual’s income “does not include the value of property acquired by gift, bequest, devise, or inheritance.”[2] However, that does not mean the individual receiving assets by bequest has no income tax consequences to consider. Those consequences…
Read More
This article is likely the final in my series on the probate and estate administration processes in Mississippi and discusses several of the potential complications one might encounter in the probate process. As mentioned in my previous article on the general probate process in Mississippi, the term “probate” technically only refers to the process of…
Read More
As mentioned in my previous article on the general probate process in Mississippi, the term “probate” technically only refers to the process of proving a will as valid.[1] However, it is most commonly used as a catch-all term to encapsulate the entire probate and estate administration processes, both for testate and intestate estates. The main…
Read More
Probate, a word that strikes fear into the hearts of untold masses. Everyone knows that probate is an extremely complex, time consuming, and expensive process. But is it really? Certainly, in many circumstances it can be, but such is not always the case. In this article, I will outline the basics of the probate process…
Read More
In yet another set of headlines involving a conservatorship, Hank Williams, Jr.’s son, Sam Williams, has posted on social media that his family has placed him in a conservatorship, starting in August 2020, which he wants to end.[1] Apparently, this conservatorship was opened to protect Sam while grieving after the death of Sam’s sister in…
Read More
The Mississippi Legislature made some sweeping changes to Mississippi laws governing estates and trusts, as well as one significant change to real property law. With the passage of S.B. 2850 and S.B. 2851, Mississippi is set to get some much needed updates in these areas of law. Both bills were signed by the governor and…
Read More