Justia Mississippi Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Louis Wallace, personal representative of the Estate of Cynthia Wallace, filed a suit in circuit court against Cynthia’s doctor Dr. Emad Mohammed, alleging wrongful death as the cause of action. After discovering evidence that Louis was never legally married to Cynthia, Dr. Mohamed moved to intervene in the estate proceedings in the Chancery Court. The chancellor allowed the intervention, considered the evidence, and removed Wallace as the administrator, and in his stead, appointed the Chancery Clerk. Subsequently, Dr. Mohamed moved to dismiss the wrongful death action, claiming Wallace lacked standing to bring the suit on behalf of the estate. The circuit court granted the motion and dismissed the wrongful death action “since Plaintiff lacked standing to commence the suit,” and “the Plaintiff lack[ed] standing as a wrongful death beneficiary and there being rightful beneficiaries available to commence a new suit.” Subsequently, Wallace appealed the chancery court’s decision to allow Dr. Mohamed to intervene in the estate proceedings, as well as the decision to remove Wallace as estate administrator. The Mississippi Court of Appeals reversed both chancery court rulings and remanded the case with instructions to reinstate Wallace as the estate administrator. Wallace then appealed the circuit court’s judgment, which had granted Dr. Mohamed’s motion to dismiss the wrongful death suit. Upon review, the Supreme Court found Wallace was not entitled to recover for Cynthia Wallace’s death, and Wallace was not the estate’s representative. The Court concluded the circuit court erred in dismissing the case, but find no error in its dismissing Wallace. The Court vacated the decision of the Court of Appeals and reversed the circuit court’s decision to dismiss the wrongful death suit. View "In re the Estate of Cynthia Wallace" on Justia Law

Appellants Bobbi Young and Linda Carter, next of kin to Clarence Young, appealed an order of the circuit court that granted summary judgment in favor of Respondent Dr. Robert Smith and Baptist Memorial Hospital. On appeal, the Youngs argued that the circuit court abused its discretion in refusing to grant their "motion to withdraw admissions" filed seven years after the admissions were otherwise "conclusively established." Upon review, the Supreme Court found that the circuit court's ruling was well within its discretion under the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure. The Court further affirmed the circuit court's finding that no genuine issue of material fact remained regarding the Youngs' claims against Dr. Smith and the hospital, and affirmed the grant of summary judgment in the Doctor's favor.

Anthony Smith died in a plane crash in 2001. His estate contained two separate life insurance policies. Mr. Smith's father Raymond was named as sole beneficiary of one policy, and Mr. Smith's ex-wife Ruth was named as beneficiary on the other. At the time of his death, Mr. Smith owned a life estate in 657 acres of land in Tate County. One hundred and sixty of the acres were set aside in fee simple for Raymond and his wife Dorothy as part of their homestead. This case came before an appellate court three separate times. Each time, the issue before the court involved the proper way to apportion the tax liability among the beneficiaries to the estate. The Supreme Court issued an opinion holding that taxes should be based on the taxable estate, rather than the gross estate. On remand, the Estate filed two motions demanding that Raymond and Ruth reimburse the Estate for taxes paid plus interest on the insurance policies. Raymond filed a motion demanding that the Estate pay him for rent for the time he was excluded from his homestead. The chancery court ultimately held that Raymond and Ruth were responsible for their portions of tax liability owed to the Estate, and that Raymond was entitled to twenty-four months' rent. The Estate appealed to the Supreme Court. Upon careful consideration of the case record, the Supreme Court affirmed the chancery court.