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Mississippi Code Ann 41-29-177 provides State of Mississippi law enforcement agencies with the authority to seize property under the Uniform Controlled Substances Law.  If property such as money, guns or automobiles are discovered during an arrest for drug related offenses, the State may petition the court for forfeiture.  The State must identify the items seized and file the petition within 30 days of seizure.

The record owners of any property seized may answer the Petition and demand the return of the seized property.  A hearing must be had wherein the party demanding the return must provide sufficient evidence that the items were not part of any drug related conspiracy.  It is often the case that the individual making a claim for return of the property was not arrested or involved in the illegal activity.  For instance, a person may have loaned their vehicle to someone without knowledge that the vehicle would be utilized for the transporting of drugs.  The record title owner of the vehicle would need to convince the court that he had no knowledge of such activity to prevail in court.

 

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When a person dies without a will, his or her property will pass to known or unknown heirs through the laws of intestate succession.  Intestate succession is an operation of law in the following scenarios:

  1. Spouse and children. If the decedent has a spouse and children, the decedent’s assets are divided into equal shares for the spouse and the children.  The descendants of any deceased child inherit that child’s share.  If the decedent has a spouse but no children, the entire estate passes to the spouse.
  2. Parents, Siblings, and Descendants of Siblings. If the decedent has no spouse or children, his or her assets are distributed among his or her parents, siblings, or descendants of siblings.  Each parent or sibling is given one share of the decedent’s estate.  If any of the siblings predecease the decedent, that sibling’s share passes to his or her descendants.
  3. Grandparents, Uncles, and Aunts. If the decedent has no spouse, child, parents, siblings, or descendants of siblings, his estate passes to his grandparents, uncles, and aunts in equal shares.  Unlike the previous categories, the share of a deceased aunt or uncle does notpass to his or her descendants.
  4. Blood Relatives of Highest Degree. In the rare event that there are no individuals in any of the previous categories, the decedent’s assets are distributed in accordance with degrees of kinship as established by civil law.  This rather convoluted process involves going up the family tree to a common ancestor, then back down the tree to the descendants of that ancestor, counting degrees for each step in the ascending and descending family line.

Heirs who fit into any of the categories above must be identified and summoned to court for heirship determination.  Sometimes the identities are readily available, sometimes not.  Notice to unknown heirs is accomplished through the publication of Summons to appear at the determination hearing for a period of 90 days.  Those who appear will give testimony to the court as to their relation to the deceased.  The court will then make a final determination as to who will share in the decedent’s estate.

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When a person dies without leaving a will, the heirs of the deceased may open what is known as an Administration Estate.   The administration estate provides for the orderly distribution of the decedent’s property.  Such distribution is made according to the Mississippi laws of intestate succession.

If the decedent has a spouse and children, the decedent’s assets are divided into equal shares among the spouse and the children.  The descendants of any deceased child inherit that child’s share.  If the decedent has a spouse but no children, the entire estate passes to the spouse.

By opening an administration estate, the administrator can facilitate the distribution of property to the rightful heirs.  The administrator first petitions the court where the decedent lived, or had property, to open an administration.  That court then issues Letters of Administration to the administrator granting that person the power to examine all assets and accounts of the deceased.

After all property has been inventoried, Notice of Creditors must be published for 90 days.  Additionally, a Petition to Determine Heirs may need to be filed to ensure all rightful heirs have been identified.  If after 90 days no creditors file a claim against the estate, the Administrator can file a Petition to Close Administration and Distribute Property to Heirs.

The foregoing summary presupposes a smooth process whereby all heirs are known and in agreement as to how the estate should be distributed.  However, many times the heirs are not all known or if they are, may not be in agreement.  Such a scenario would require a hearing before the court wherein a Judge would make the final determination as to heirs and property distribution

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§ 97-21-21. Destruction, erasure, or obliteration of writing deemed forgery

The total erasure, obliteration, or destruction of any instrument of writing, with the intent to defraud, by which any pecuniary obligation or any right, interest, or claim to property, shall be or shall be intended to be created, increased, discharged, diminished, or in any manner affected, shall be forgery in the same manner and in the same degree as the false alteration of any part of such instrument of writing.

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Mail and wire fraud statutes make it crime for any one to use the mails or wires in furtherance of a scheme to defraud. The fraudulent statements themselves need not be transmitted by mail or wire; it is only required that the scheme to defraud be advanced, concealed or furthered by the use of the U.S. mail or wires. 18 U.S.C. §§ 1341, 1343. Because every business or corporation in the United States uses the mails or wires to make money, any business who allegedly engages in common law fraud arguably violates the federal mail and wire fraud statutes. 

In order to commit mail fraud, the defendant must:

  • Have devised some sort of scheme to defraud others; and
  • Used the mail to advance the efforts of that fraud

The penalties for a conviction of mail fraud can be quite severe.  A convicted defendant can face up to 20 years in prison and substantial fines.  However, if a financial institution is defrauded, a maximum prison term of 30 years and a fine of up to $1,000,000.00 could be imposed.

 

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§ 97-21-63. Will, deed, certificate of acknowledgment or proof of recordable instrument.

Every person who shall be convicted of having forged, counterfeited, or falsely altered any will of real or personal property, or any deed or other instrument, being or purporting to be the act of another by which any right or interest in real or personal property shall be or purport to be transferred, conveyed, or in any way changed or affected; or any certificate or indorsement of the acknowledgment of any person of any deed or other instrument which by law may be recorded, made or purporting to have been made by any officer duly authorized to make such certificate or indorsement; or any certificate of the proof of any deed or other instrument which by law may be recorded, made or purporting to have been made by any officer duly authorized to make such certificate, with intent to defraud, shall be guilty of forgery.

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Title insurance provides protection for buyers in a home sales transaction. The insurance policy will usually provide limited coverage for issues such as a transfer of a defective title, or a breach of contract terms by the seller.  As with other types of transactions, the risk of fraud exist in title insurance and is often difficult to detect.

Some common title insurance fraud methods include:

  • Using fake, misleading, or intentionally deceiving legal documents
  • Misrepresentation of professional credentials and licensing
  • Overcharging for policy rates
  • “Rush deals” – using pressure and coercion to force the person into purchasing a policy
  • Absentee deals – many fraudsters target situations wherein true owner of the home is not physically present in the country or is unavailable
  • Intentional withholding of title insurance benefits
  • Unreasonably low payouts, or refusal to make payouts to the policy holder

Title insurance fraud may result in various legal remedies such as monetary damages against the defendant. Damages are paid to the plaintiff as compensation for losses that directly attributable to fraud.

Criminal charges may result where an insurance broker has engaged in activities such as forgery and mail fraud.  If you believe you may have become the victim of insurance fraud, you should contact and attorney to protect your rights

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A valid Limited Liability Company must be registered with the State of Mississippi. Terminating its existence as a state-registered business entity begins with a formal process called “dissolution.”  To voluntarily dissolve your LLC, you first review the company’s formation documents–the certificate of formation and the operating agreement. Typically, one of those two documents will contain a section with rules pertaining to the dissolution of the company. In many operating agreements the provisions require a vote of the LLC members on a resolution to dissolve, and more specifically a requirement that a certain percentage of members vote in favor of the resolution.  Specific procedural requirements of the dissolution rules must be followed.  An example would be setting a specific time to meet and vote and giving advance notice to all members regarding the meeting.

If neither the certificate of formation or operating agreement address dissolution,  Mississippi’s Limited Liability Corporation Act provides a method by which to voluntarily dissolve an LLC. Under these rules, you must obtain the consent of all LLC members.  If you dissolve the LLC based on formation documents or by unanimous member consent, you must record the decision to approve the resolution in the official minutes of the dissolution meeting or on a written consent form.

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In Mississippi, judges may grant what is known as a “continuance,” which is a temporary postponement of the trial or court hearing. Either the plaintiff or the defendant may request a continuance, but the Court may also issue a continuance without consulting with either party to a case.

Continuances may be requested when unforeseen events – such as illness or scheduling conflicts – arise but may be granted if a recently retained attorney needs additional time to prepare.  The judge considers the grounds for requesting the continuance, and determines whether there is a valid reason for postponing the case. A judge will usually permit a continuance if it is necessary to preserve the rights of each party to a case, and to prevent a miscarriage of justice. Before issuing a continuance, a judge may evaluate your reason for requesting a continuance, whether you’ve made a good-faith effort to avoid delaying the case, and whether a continuance will prejudice either party in the case.

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Damages in Mississippi have a cap of $500,000 on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases. Miss. Code Ann. § 11-1-60. The Mississippi Supreme Court has yet to rule on the constitutionality of this statute. The effective date of the cap remains uncertain. Much of the 2002 tort reform act is applicable to actions filed on or after January 1, 2003, but the section establishing the cap indicates that it applies to actions filed on or after passage of the bill, which was approved October 8, 2002. Id. The limited authority available supports the earlier effective date. The cases of Buchanon v. Mariner Health Care Management Co., No. Civ.A. 303CV302WS, 2006 WL 1195579 (S.D. Miss. April 28, 2006); Bowen v. South Coast Family Physicians, PLLC, No. C102-00508(1), 2006 WL 2945591 (Miss. Cir. May 26, 2006) seem to support the proposition that actions filed on or before October 8, 2002 are applicable to caps.

Prior to the law change, the definition of non-economic damages excluded damages for “disfigurement,” but this exception was removed through an amendment applicable to actions filed on or after September 1, 2004. The amendment clarified that the cap applies to an entire claim, not separately for each defendant. § 11-1-60. Punitive damages are limited to two percent of net worth in cases filed on or after September 1, 2004, . (There is a schedule of lower limits for defendants worth more than $50 million.) Miss. Code Ann. § 11-1-65