Mississippi: Inheritance Disclaimer and Renunciation Requirements

Requirements one by one

Governing law and covered interests

Mississippi Code §§ 89-22-1 through 89-22-37 contain the Mississippi Uniform
Disclaimer of Property Interests Act (2002/2010). The transition provisions in
2020 Miss. SB 2851 §§ 88 and 92 repealed former Chapter 89-21 and made the
replacement effective July 1, 2020. The current chapter reaches any
interest in or power over property whenever created, including interests passing
by will, intestacy, trust, beneficiary designation, survivorship arrangement,
tenancy by the entirety, or power of appointment.

Whole, partial, and conditional disclaimer

Section 89-22-9 permits a whole or partial disclaimer. A partial disclaimer may
be written as a fraction, percentage, monetary amount, term of years, limitation
of a power, or another interest or estate. The act does not separately state
whether a disclaimer may be conditional.

Mississippi uses special survivorship rules. Miss. Code Ann. § 89-22-13 limits
a joint holder to the incremental portion received by survivorship. Section 89-22-15
lets an entirety survivor disclaim the survivorship interest and treats the
deceased tenant's interest as an undivided one-half for this chapter.

Writing or record and required contents

Under § 89-22-9(d), the disclaimer may be a paper writing or another tangible,
electronic, or retrievable record. It must declare the disclaimer, describe the
interest or power, be signed, and be delivered or filed under § 89-22-25. The
chapter does not require an original or tax recital. It recognizes an electronic
record but does not separately define an electronic-signature method.

Signature, witnesses, acknowledgment, and notary

The act requires the signature of the person making the disclaimer. Chapter
89-22 states no witness, acknowledgment, notarization, attestation, oath, or
sworn-verification requirement.

State deadline, irrevocability, and federal-tax overlay

The current act states no fixed deadline for an ordinary Mississippi disclaimer.
The beneficiary must act before a bar in § 89-22-27 applies, and another law may
impose an additional bar or limitation. Under § 89-22-9(f), the disclaimer
becomes irrevocable at the later of delivery or filing under § 89-22-25 and
statutory effectiveness under §§ 89-22-11 through 89-22-23.

Tax qualification is separate but expressly addressed by state law. Section
89-22-29 says a Mississippi disclaimer intended to be tax-qualified must satisfy
26 U.S.C. § 2518, including its general nine-month condition. The federal
statute measures receipt within nine months after the later of the transfer or
the disclaimant reaching age 21 and adds no-acceptance and no-direction rules.

Delivery, filing, and recipient

Section 89-22-25 permits personal delivery, first-class mail, or another method
likely to result in receipt. The route depends on the asset:

• For a will or intestacy interest, deliver to the personal representative;
  file with the appointing court if none is serving.
• For a testamentary trust, deliver to the trustee, then the personal
  representative if no trustee serves, with a court fallback if neither serves.
• For an inter vivos trust, deliver to the trustee or use the court fallback;
  while the trust is revocable, deliver to the settlor or transferor.
• For a beneficiary designation, deliver to its creator or legal representative
  before it becomes irrevocable and to the distributor afterward.
• For joint or entirety property, deliver to the person who takes because of the
  disclaimer.
• For an object, default taker, or appointee under a power of appointment,
  deliver to the holder or named fiduciary, with a court fallback if none serves.

Real-property recording and notice

Mississippi Code § 89-22-31 does not make recording a validity condition between
the disclaimant and successor takers. Recording serves constructive notice. To
give notice to all persons, the disclaimer must contain a legal description and
be recorded with the chancery clerk in each county where the real property lies.
Constructive notice begins when the effective disclaimer is filed.

Acceptance, transfer, insolvency, and creditor bars

Section 89-22-27 bars a disclaimer after a written waiver. Before effectiveness,
acceptance, voluntary assignment, conveyance, encumbrance, pledge, transfer or a
contract to do so, and a judicial sale also bar it. Another law may supply an
additional bar or limitation. A barred power disclaimer is ineffective; a
barred interest disclaimer operates as a transfer to the people who otherwise
would have taken under the act.

Chapter 89-22 states no separate insolvency or ordinary beneficiary-creditor bar.

Effective date and destination

Under § 89-22-11, a disclaimer of an instrument-created interest takes effect
when the instrument becomes irrevocable; an intestacy interest takes effect at
death. The instrument's own disclaimer-disposition clause controls first.
Without one, an individual is generally treated as dying immediately before
distribution, with surviving-descendant and estate-destination overrides. The
disclaimant's own future interest is not accelerated.

For joint property, a disclaimed increment passes to the deceased holder's
estate when only one survivor remains. With multiple survivors, it reallocates
among the nondisclaiming survivors in proportion to their interests; if all
disclaim, it passes to the deceased holder's estate. An entirety disclaimer
passes as though the surviving tenant predeceased the deceased tenant. The
disclaimant does not choose the successor.

What trips people up

• Using repealed Chapter 89-21. The transition clause states: “SECTION 88.
  Sections 89-21-1, 89-21-3, 89-21-5, 89-21-7, 89-21-9, 89-21-11,
  89-21-13, 89-21-15 and 89-21-17, Mississippi Code of 1972, which constitute
  the Uniform Disclaimer of Property Interests Act, are repealed.” Section 92
  made the replacement effective July 1, 2020.
• Turning the tax clock into a universal deadline. Section 89-22-29 imports
  federal conditions for a tax-qualified disclaimer, not every state disclaimer.
• Assuming all survivorship property works alike. Joint property and tenancy
  by the entirety have distinct scope and destination rules.
• Calling recording a universal validity step. The current act makes it the
  route to constructive notice, while preserving immediate-party validity
  without recording.

Common questions

Does a Mississippi disclaimer need a notary or witnesses? Chapter 89-22
requires a signature but states no witness, acknowledgment, oath, or
notarization rule.

Can the disclaimer be an electronic record? Yes. The act includes information
stored electronically if it is retrievable in perceivable form, but it does not
separately define how that electronic record must be signed.

Must I record a real-property disclaimer? Recording is needed to give
constructive notice to everyone. The act says nonrecording does not defeat
validity between the disclaimant and the people who take because of the
disclaimer.

What happens if I already assigned the interest? A voluntary assignment or
contract to transfer before effectiveness is an express bar. The barred interest
disclaimer then operates as a transfer to the people who otherwise would take.

Statutes and sources

• Miss. Code Ann. §§ 89-22-1, 89-22-5, and 89-22-9 — current act,
  scope, whole/partial authority, record definition, required contents, and
  irrevocability. Official SB 2851 SG, accessed 2026-08-01.
• Miss. Code Ann. §§ 89-22-11, 89-22-13, and 89-22-15 — effectiveness
  and destination for ordinary, joint, and entirety interests. Official SB 2851
  SG, accessed 2026-08-01.
• Miss. Code Ann. § 89-22-25 — delivery methods, asset-specific recipients,
  and court fallbacks. Official SB 2851 SG, accessed 2026-08-01.
• Miss. Code Ann. § 89-22-27 — waiver, acceptance, transfer, judicial-sale,
  and other-law bars, plus the failed-disclaimer consequence. Official SB 2851
  SG, accessed 2026-08-01.
• Miss. Code Ann. §§ 89-22-29 and 89-22-31 — tax-qualified conditions,
  legal-description recording, constructive notice, and nonrecording effect.
  Official SB 2851 SG, accessed 2026-08-01.
• 2020 Miss. SB 2851 §§ 88 and 92 — repeal of former Chapter 89-21 and
  July 1, 2020 effective date. Mississippi Legislature, accessed 2026-08-01.
• 26 U.S.C. § 2518(b) — separate federal qualified-disclaimer conditions.
  GovInfo, accessed 2026-08-01.