The recent Mississippi Supreme Court case, In re Estate of Effie Mae Autry (2023-CA-01300-SCT), provides an important reminder of the pitfalls associated with undue influence in estate planning. This case illustrates how family dynamics and diminished mental capacity can complicate the execution of Wills and related estate documents, including lifetime gifts. Background Decedent, Effie Mae…
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
As previously written upon by my colleague[1], probate is the process of proving a decedent’s Will to be his or her true Last Will and Testament. But, what happens when a decedent executed a Will when he or she lacked mental capacity? Or while under pressure from a certain beneficiary? Or the Will was not…
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
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
On July 1, 2020, the new Mississippi Uniform Estate Tax Apportionment Act went into effect under Sections 33-46 of S.B. 2851, replacing the old Uniform Estate Tax Apportionment Act under Title 27 Chapter 10 of the Mississippi Code. What does apportionment of estate taxes mean anyway? Apportionment of estate taxes is the determination and allocation…
Read More