MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2010 Regular Session

To: Judiciary A

By: Representative Jones (111th)

House Bill 1109

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 91-1-25 AND 91-5-33, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CLARIFY THAT A MURDERER CANNOT INHERIT FROM A VICTIM; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

     BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

     SECTION 1.  Section 91-1-25, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

     91-1-25.  If any person shall cause or procure the death of another in any way, he shall not inherit the property, real or personal, of such other; but the same shall descend as if the person so causing or procuring the death had predeceased the person whose death he perpetrated.

     SECTION 2.  Section 91-5-33, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

     91-5-33.  If any person shall * * * 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.

     SECTION 3.  This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2010.