Chancery Judge in Rankin County, the heart of the great State of Mississippi!
Rankin County, Mississippi
Joined March 2009
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Nellie’s, Natchez’s infamous landmark, is making appellate headlines again. This time, the owner sued a preservation commissioner for slander after the commish suggested Nellie's was so neglected it ought to be demolished.
courts.ms.gov/images/Opinion…
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Lawyers: You can just write “$1,510.75” in your briefs. You do not have to write “One Thousand Five Hundred Ten Dollars and Seventy-Five Cents ($1,510.75).” I promise the Court will not mistake your brief for a check.
"In Rule 81 [Now Rule 4(i)] matters, a summons must be issued; otherwise, service is defective. Actual notice does not cure defective process." Clark v. Clark, 43 So3d 496, 499 (Miss Ct App 2010).
Repeat: "summons must be issued." It doesn't matter that they show up to court.
I hear a lot of excuses for failing to show for trial, but the one in the Davidson case (25-CA-350-COA) is up there.
Wife failed to appear for her divorce trial in April, saying she was stranded in the Dominican Republic since December b/c she got locked out of her apartment.
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8:30 am to 3 pm today, MC School of Law hosts a GAL CLE. There is an exceptional cadre of presenters, including Megan Hasie, Natalie Gideon, Adria Johnson, Trey O'Cain, Macy Mitchell, Adam Kilgore, Judge R. Sheldon, & Judge B. Richard.
Don't be a square!
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The nine objections within "Object to the form?"
Leading, compound question, argumentative, asked/answered, assumes facts not in evidence, ambiguous/confusing, misleading, narrative, and repetitious.
"Object to the form of the question."
"Come again?"
If you've ever wondered what that means, click this link, which takes you to Judge Primeaux's blog. It's an oldie but a goodie.
betterchancery.com/2018/07/2…
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"When a confidential relationship is shown to have existed between the grantor and grantee at the time of the conveyance, the court will scrutinize the conveyance." Weirich v. Murchison, 200 So. 3d 1085, 1089 (Miss. Ct. App. 2016).
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"In any proceeding to contest the validity of a will, all persons interested in such contest shall be made parties." Miss. Code Ann. 91-7-25. This requirement is jurisdictional. Garrett v. Bohannon, 621 So. 2d 935, 937 (Miss. 1993).
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The requirements that there be two attesting witnesses to a will, that it be signed by them in the presence of the testator, and that be evidenced by the affixation of their signatures to the document, are indispensable safeguards of the integrity of testamentary documents.
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The recent decision of Leger v. Leger (2025-CA-56-COA) demonstrates the strict interpretation courts give to property settlement agreements entered as part of divorce proceedings. Remember that three-tiered process from Pursue Energy Corp. v. Perkins, 558 So. 2d 349 (Miss. 1990)!
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1. Look to the "four corners" of the agreement. Review the actual language used. If clear/unambiguous, uphold the plain language of the agreement, regardless of who is complaining now.
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"[R]eal estate descends directly and immediately upon his death to the heirs or devisees of the deceased owner subject only to the debts of the deceased over and above his personal estate." Parker v. Newell, 245 So. 2d 575, 576 (Miss. 1971).
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You obtain a divorce in another state, but cannot divide Mississippi property b/c the foreign state lacked personal jurisdiction over the defendant. What next? Read the Staggs v. Staggs case (2024-CA-01308-COA) rendered 10/20/26. A few nit-picky "technicalities" are answered.
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Miss. Uniform Chancery Court Rule 3.09(A): "The chancellor may dispense with argument in any action."
MRCP 78: "To expedite its business, the court may make provision by rule or order for the submission and determination of motions without oral hearing . . . ."
"The chancery court should never act finally on a state of facts so inadequately developed in material details that the appellate court cannot tell where the inference has ended and where the conjecture has begun." Shelson, Miss. Chancery Prac. sec. 31:46, at 375 (2017 ed.).
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