Title 91, Trusts and Estates

The executor or administrator shall, within ninety (90) days of the grant of his letters unless further time be allowed by the court or clerk, file an inventory, verified by oath, of the money and property owned by the decedent at the time of death, listing it with reasonable det…

If any property not included in the original inventory comes to the knowledge of the executor or administrator, or if the executor or administrator learns that the value or description indicated in the original inventory for any item is erroneous or misleading, he shall make a su…

In case an inventory be returned by a temporary administrator, the executor or administrator who may succeed to the administration shall, within ninety days after the grant of his letters, either return a new inventory in place of the collector’s inventory or file a written ackno…

If there be more than one executor, administrator, or temporary administrator, they shall all join in returning the inventories. If one or more refuse to do so, the others may return them, and the power and authority of the person so refusing shall thereafter cease. Those who ret…

This chapter may be cited as the Mississippi Uniform Trust Code.

This chapter applies to express trusts, charitable or noncharitable, and trusts created pursuant to a statute, judgment, or decree that requires the trust to be administered in the manner of an express trust.

(1) In this chapter:(1) “Action,” with respect to an act of a trustee, includes a failure to act.(2) “Ascertainable standard” means a standard relating to an individual’s health, education, support, or maintenance within the meaning of Section 2041(b)(1)(A) or 2514(c)(1) of the I…

(a) Subject to subsection (b), a person has knowledge of a fact if the person:(1) Has actual knowledge of it;(2) Has received a notice or notification of it; or(3) From all the facts and circumstances known to the person at the time in question, has reason to know it. (1) Has act…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in the terms of the trust, this chapter governs the duties and powers of a trustee or any other fiduciary under this chapter, relations among trustees and such other fiduciaries, and the rights and interests of a beneficiary. The terms of a trust …

The common law of trusts and principles of equity supplement this chapter, except to the extent modified by this chapter or another statute of this state.

(a) The validity, construction and administration of a trust are determined by the law of the jurisdiction designated in the terms of the trust instrument. (b) In the absence of a controlling designation in the terms of the trust, the laws of the jurisdiction where the trust was …

(a) Without precluding other means for establishing a sufficient connection with the designated jurisdiction, the terms of a trust designating the principal place of administration are valid and controlling if:(1) A trustee’s principal place of business is located in or a trustee…

(a) Notice to a person under this chapter or the sending of a document to a person under this chapter must be accomplished in a manner reasonably suitable under the circumstances and likely to result in receipt of the notice or document. Permissible methods of notice or for sendi…

(1) A charitable organization expressly designated to receive distributions under the terms of a charitable trust has the rights of a qualified beneficiary under this chapter if the charitable organization, on the date the charitable organization’s qualification is being determin…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b), the trustee and qualified beneficiaries may enter into a binding nonjudicial settlement agreement with respect to any matter involving a trust. (b) A nonjudicial settlement agreement is valid only to the extent it does not viola…

The rules of construction that apply in this state to the interpretation of and disposition of property by will also apply as appropriate to the interpretation of the terms of a trust and the disposition of the trust property.

(a) The court may intervene in the administration of a trust to the extent its jurisdiction is invoked by an interested person or as provided by law. (b) A trust is not subject to continuing judicial supervision unless ordered by the court. (c) A judicial proceeding involving a t…

(a) By accepting the trusteeship of a trust having its principal place of administration in this state or by moving the principal place of administration to this state, the trustee submits personally to the jurisdiction of the courts of this state regarding any matter involving t…

(a) Except as provided in subsections (b) and (c), the chancery court has exclusive jurisdiction of proceedings in this state brought by a trustee or beneficiary concerning the administration of a trust. (b) Any other court granted statutory equitable jurisdiction has concurrent …

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b), venue for a judicial proceeding involving a trust is in the county of this state in which the trust’s principal place of administration is or will be located and, if the trust is created by will and the estate is not yet closed,…

(a) A trustee may file an accounting of the trustee’s administration of a trust in court at any time and seek a partial or final settlement thereof or, upon petition of an interested party, a court may order a trustee to render an accounting of the trustee’s administration of a t…

(a) Notice to a person who may represent and bind another person under this article has the same effect as if notice were given directly to the other person. (b) The consent of a person who may represent and bind another person under this article is binding on the person represen…

To the extent there is no material conflict of interest between the holder of a power of appointment and the persons represented with respect to the particular question or dispute, the holder may represent and bind persons whose interests, as permissible appointees, takers in def…

(1) To the extent there is no material conflict of interest between the representative and the person represented or among those being represented with respect to a particular question or dispute:(1) A conservator or guardian may represent and bind the estate that the conservator…

(a) Unless otherwise represented, a minor, incapacitated, or unborn individual, or a person whose identity or location is unknown and not reasonably ascertainable, may be represented by and bound by another having a substantially identical interest with respect to the particular …

(a) If the court determines that an interest is not represented under this article, or that the otherwise available representation might be inadequate, the court may appoint a guardian ad litem or other representative to receive notice, give consent, and otherwise represent, bind…

(1) A trust may be created by:(1) Transfer of property to another person as trustee or a transfer in the name of the trust during the settlor’s lifetime or by will or other disposition taking effect upon the settlor’s death;(2) Declaration by the owner of property that the owner …

(a) A trust is created only if:(1) The settlor has capacity to create a trust;(2) The settlor indicates an intention to create the trust;(3) The trust has a definite beneficiary or is:(A) A charitable trust;(B) A trust for the care of an animal, as provided in Section 91-8-408; o…

(1) A trust not created by will is validly created if its creation complies with the law of the jurisdiction in which the trust instrument was executed, or the law of the jurisdiction in which, at the time of creation:(1) The settlor was domiciled, had a place of abode, or was a …

A trust may be created only to the extent its purposes are lawful and possible to achieve. A trust and its terms must be for the benefit of its beneficiaries as the interests of such beneficiaries are defined under the terms of the trust.

(a) A charitable trust may be created for the relief of poverty, the advancement of education or religion, the promotion of health, governmental or municipal purposes, or other purposes the achievement of which is beneficial to the community. (b) If the terms of a charitable trus…

A trust is void to the extent its creation was induced by fraud, duress, or undue influence.

(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) and except as required by a statute other than this chapter, a trust need not be evidenced by a trust instrument, but the creation of an oral trust and its terms may be established only by clear and convincing evidence. (b) (1) No trust of…

(a) A trust may be created to provide for the care of an animal alive during the settlor’s lifetime. The trust terminates upon the death of the animal or, if the trust was created to provide for the care of more than one (1) animal alive during the settlor’s lifetime, upon the de…

(1) Except as otherwise provided in Section 91-8-408, Section 41-43-51 or by another statute, the following rules apply:(1) A trust may be created for a noncharitable purpose without a definite or definitely ascertainable beneficiary or for a noncharitable but otherwise valid pur…

(a) In addition to the methods of termination prescribed by Sections 91-8-411 through 91-8-414, a trust terminates to the extent the trust is revoked or expires pursuant to its terms, no purpose of the trust remains to be achieved, or the purposes of the trust have become unlawfu…

(a) During the settlor’s lifetime, a noncharitable irrevocable trust may be modified or terminated by the trustee upon consent of all qualified beneficiaries, even if the modification or termination is inconsistent with a material purpose of the trust if the settlor does not obje…

(a) The court may modify the administrative or dispositive terms of a trust or terminate the trust if, because of circumstances not anticipated by the settlor, modification or termination will further the purposes of the trust. To the extent practicable, the modification must be …

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b), if a particular charitable purpose becomes unlawful, impracticable, impossible to achieve, obsolete or ineffective:(1) The trust does not fail, in whole or in part;(2) The trust property does not revert to the settlor or the set…

(a) After notice to the qualified beneficiaries, the trustee of a trust consisting of trust property having a total value less than One Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($150,000.00) may terminate the trust if the trustee concludes that the value of the trust property is insufficie…

The court may reform the terms of a trust, even if unambiguous, to conform the terms to the settlor’s intention if it is proved by clear and convincing evidence what the settlor’s intention was and that the terms of the trust were affected by a mistake of fact or law, whether in …

To achieve the settlor’s tax objectives, the court may modify the terms of a trust in a manner that is not contrary to the settlor’s probable intention. The court may provide that the modification has retroactive effect.

(a) After notice to the qualified beneficiaries, a trustee may combine two (2) or more trusts into a single trust or divide a trust into two (2) or more separate trusts, if the result does not impair the rights of any beneficiary or adversely affect achievement of the purposes of…

This Article 5 applies to a creditor’s or assignee’s claims and ability to reach mandatory, support and discretionary interests regardless of whether such interests are subject to a spendthrift provision. To the extent not otherwise prohibited by this Article 5, the court may aut…

(a) Except as provided in Section 91-8-505, if the trust instrument provides that a beneficiary’s interest in a trust is not subject to voluntary or involuntary transfer, the beneficiary’s interest in the trust may not be transferred and is not subject to the enforcement of a mon…

(a) A discretionary interest is neither a property interest nor an enforceable right; it is a mere expectancy. (b) Relative to a discretionary interest, whether or not a trust contains a spendthrift provision:(1) A creditor or assignee cannot force or otherwise reach a distributi…