Mississippi life estate deed

What a life estate deed does in Mississippi

A traditional life estate deed splits ownership across time. You, the life tenant, keep the right to live in and use the property for the rest of your life. The remaindermen you name own everything after that, and their interest vests the moment the deed is delivered; recording protects it against later buyers and creditors. Because their interest is real and present, you can't sell, refinance, or undo the deed without their signatures. That permanence is the whole difference between this and a lady bird deed.

The Mississippi law behind this deed

Mississippi has no section written specifically for life estate deeds. The instrument runs on the general conveyancing and recording statutes below, which is why the requirements here look like those for any other deed in the state.

When Mississippi property owners use a life estate deed

• Pass a home to children while reserving the right to live there for life
• Start the Medicaid look-back clock on a transfer (state rules vary)
• Avoid probate on the property with a simple, long-established instrument
• Provide for a surviving spouse or partner with the remainder going to your own children

What Mississippi requires on the deed

These are the execution and formatting rules for Mississippi deeds. A chancery clerk may refuse a deed that lacks the telephone numbers, the preparer's details or the indexing instruction (Miss. Code Ann. §§ 27-3-51(2), 89-5-33(3)). A deed that misses the format rules is still recorded, for $10 more (§ 89-5-24(4)).

How to complete and record it in Mississippi

1. 1Find your current deedYou need the legal description from it, word for word. If you can't find your copy, the Chancery Clerk can provide one, usually for a few dollars.
2. 2Identify everyone by full legal nameNames must match the current deed and government ID exactly, middle names included. A mismatch creates a gap in the chain of title that shows up years later at closing.
3. 3Complete the deedIt needs the wording, notary certificate, and 3-inch first-page margin used for Mississippi deeds. You can prepare your own deed, or a Mississippi attorney can prepare it for you.
4. 4Sign in front of a notaryBring photo ID. Wait to sign until you are in front of the notary: you have to appear before the notary anyway, and signing there leaves no question about who signed.
5. 5Record it with the Chancery ClerkFile in the county where the property is located and pay the recording fee. Many offices in this state also accept e-recording, but usually only from approved submitters such as title companies. Keep the stamped receipt. It fixes your priority date.
6. 6Tell the people you named where it isAt your death they record a certified death certificate, and in some states an affidavit, to show that your life estate has ended. Ask your insurer whether they should be added to the policy now.

What it costs in Mississippi

We found no general Mississippi transfer tax on deeds. The only state-law tax on a deed that we found is the mineral documentary tax, which applies when a deed conveys or keeps back oil, gas or other mineral rights. The chancery clerk collects the mineral documentary tax: 3 to 8 cents per mineral acre, at least $1 (Miss. Code Ann. §§ 27-31-77 to 27-31-81). The grantor pays it on a reservation, the grantee on a conveyance. As far as we could find, it does not apply to an ordinary deed of the land that says nothing about minerals, but ask the chancery clerk if you are unsure.

Where to record it in Mississippi

Mississippi deeds are recorded with the Chancery Clerk in the county where the property sits, not where you live. There are 82 counties in Mississippi.

Many Mississippi recording offices accept e-recording through vendors such as Simplifile, CSC, or ePN. E-recording is generally open only to approved submitters such as title companies, attorneys, and lenders, so if you prepared the deed yourself, plan to record in person or by mail. Some offices accept filings from the public through those vendors; your county's website will say.

Recording offices we cover in Mississippi: Hinds, Harrison, DeSoto, Rankin, Jackson, Madison. See all Mississippi recording offices.

What a life estate deed does NOT do

Being honest about the limits is more useful than a sales pitch. Every one of these catches somebody out.

• It is not revocable. Once recorded, you can't sell or mortgage the property without every remainderman signing.
• A remainderman's divorce, bankruptcy, or judgment creditor can attach their interest in your home while you're still living in it.
• Because you keep the right to live there for life, the full value is still counted in your estate for federal tax purposes (26 U.S.C. § 2036). That generally gives the remaindermen a stepped-up basis at your death, but it also means the deed does not shrink a taxable estate.
• It is usually treated as a divestment for Medicaid purposes. Get advice before using it for that purpose.

Quirks of Mississippi law that catch people out

• Mississippi records deeds with the Chancery Clerk, an office that also handles probate. Convenient when a transfer touches an estate.
• A chancery clerk may refuse a deed that does not give a mailing address and a telephone number for every grantor and grantee on page one (Miss. Code Ann. § 27-3-51(2)).
• A chancery clerk must refuse a deed without an indexing instruction (the section, township and range, and the quarter section), unless the land is a lot in a recorded subdivision or the deed gives that information elsewhere. The deed must also give the preparer's name, address and telephone number (Miss. Code Ann. § 89-5-33(3)).
• If the owner is married and living with the spouse, both spouses must sign a deed of homestead property, even where only one holds title (Miss. Code Ann. § 89-1-29).