Last Will and Testament for Widow or Widower with Minor Children
Note: This summary is not intended as an all-inclusive summary of the law of wills in Mississippi, but does contain
basic and other information. Handwritten wills are not discussed.
Who may make a will: Every person
eighteen (18) years of age or older, being of sound and disposing mind,
shall have power, to make a will. 91-5-1.
Execution: A last will and testament, or
codicil, shall be signed by the testator or testatrix, and shall be attested
by two (2) or more credible witnesses in the presence of the testator or
testatrix. 91-5-1.
Revocations: A will may be revoked by the
testator or testatrix destroying, canceling, or obliterating the will,
or by subsequent will, codicil, or declaration, in writing, made and executed.
91-5-3.
Devises or bequests to witnesses: If any
person be a subscribing witness to a will wherein any devise or bequest
is made to him and the will cannot otherwise be proven, such devise or
bequest shall be void, and the witness shall be competent as to the residue
of the will as if a devise or bequest had not been made to him, and he
may be compelled to testify. If such witness would have been entitled to
any share of the testator's estate in case the will were not established,
then so much of such share shall be saved to the witness as shall not exceed
the value of the devise or bequest made to him in the will. 91-5-9.
Creditor as subscribing witness: Any creditor
shall be a competent subscribing witness to a last will and testament;
but any special provision in favor of such creditor in the will, either
by admitting the debt or by providing for its payment or by giving it a
preference, shall be void, and such claim shall stand as though the provision
had not been made. 91-5-13.
Right of spouse to renounce will; form of renunciation; right
to intestate share: When a husband makes his last
will and testament and does not make satisfactory provision therein for
his wife, she may, at any time within ninety (90) days after the probate
of the will, file in the office where probated a renunciation to the following
effect, viz.: "I, A B, the widow of C D, hereby renounce the provision
made for me by the will of my deceased husband, and elect to take in lieu
thereof my legal share of his estate." Thereupon she shall be entitled
to such part of his estate, real and personal, as she would have been entitled
to if he had died intestate, except that, even if the husband left no child
nor descendant of such, the widow, upon renouncing, shall be entitled to
only one-half (1/2) of the real and personal estate of her deceased husband.
The husband may renounce the will of his deceased wife under the same circumstances,
in the same time and manner, and with the same effect upon his right to
share in her estate as herein provided for the widow. 91-5-25.
Will not providing for spouse: If the will
of the husband or wife shall not make any provision for the other, the
survivor of them shall have the right to share in the estate of the deceased
husband or wife, as in case of unsatisfactory provision in the will of
the husband or wife for the other of them. In such case a renunciation
of the will shall not be necessary, but the rights of the survivor shall
be as if the will had contained a provision that was unsatisfactory and
it had been renounced. 91-5-27.
Spouse with separate estate: In case the
wife have a separate property at the time of the death of her husband,
equal in value to what would be her lawful portion of her husband's real
and personal estate, and he have made a will, she shall not be at liberty
to signify her dissent to the will or to renounce any provision or bequest
therein in her favor and elect to take her portion of his estate. If her
separate property be not equal in value to what would be the value of her
portion of her husband's estate, then she may signify her dissent to the
will, as in other cases provided by law, and claim to have the deficiency
made up to her, notwithstanding the will. The court in which the will is
probated may appoint three commissioners to ascertain, by valuation of
the estate, what her lawful portion thereof would be worth; and the commissioners
shall also value her own separate estate and report their valuation to
the court. Whereupon the court shall make the proper order for allowing
her to share in her husband's real and personal estate to make up the deficiency
after the following rule: if her separate property be equal in value to
two thirds of what she would be entitled to, she shall have one third of
her lawful portion of the land and one third of what would be her distributive
share of the personalty; if her separate property be worth half in value
what she would be entitled to, then she shall be entitled to half her lawful
portion of real estate and half of what would be her distributive share
of the personalty; if her separate property be worth only one third in
value what she would be entitled to, then she shall be entitled to two
thirds of her lawful portion of real estate and two thirds of what would
be her distributive share in the personalty. This section shall not preclude
or prevent any married woman from renouncing the provisions of her husband's
will and electing to take her lawful portion if her separate property do
not amount in value to one fifth of what she would be entitled to. This
section shall apply to a husband renouncing the will of his wife, and shall
govern as to his right to share in her estate in such case. 91-5-29.
Person who kills another not to take under his will: If any
person shall wilfully cause or procure the death of another in any manner,
he shall not take the property, or any part thereof, real or personal,
of such other under any will, testament, or codicil. Any devise to such
person shall be void and, as to the property so devised, the decedent shall
be deemed to have died intestate. This shall not defeat the title
of a bona fide purchaser for value of the property so devised, who acquired
the same after one year from the probation of the will without notice that
the person to whom the same was devised so caused or procured the death
of the testator. 91-5-33.
