Mississippi State Bankruptcy Exemptions
§ 85-3-21. Homestead exemption; land and buildings
Every citizen of this state, male or female, being a householder shall be
entitled to hold exempt from seizure or sale, under execution or attachment,
the land and buildings owned and occupied as a residence by him, or her, but
the quantity of land shall not exceed one hundred sixty (160) acres, nor the
value thereof, inclusive of improvements, save as hereinafter provided, the sum
of Seventy-five Thousand Dollars ($ 75,000.00); provided, however, that in
determining this value, existing encumbrances on such land and buildings,
including taxes and all other liens, shall first be deducted from the actual
value of such land and buildings. But husband or wife, widower or widow, over
sixty (60) years of age, who has been an exemptionist under this section, shall
not be deprived of such exemption because of not residing therein.
§ 85-3-23. Homestead exemption; land and buildings; insurance proceeds; personal
property
Every citizen of this state, male or female, being a householder shall be
entitled to hold exempt from seizure or sale under execution or attachment the
land and buildings owned and occupied as a residence by such person, also the
proceeds of any insurance, fire or otherwise, on any such buildings destroyed
or damaged by fire, tornado or otherwise, not to exceed in value, save as
hereinafter provided, Seventy-five Thousand Dollars ($ 75,000.00), and personal
property to be selected by him or her not to exceed in value Two Hundred Fifty
Dollars ($ 250.00) or the articles specified as exempt to the head of a family;
provided, however, that no sum or amount due, or to become due such person, nor
any part thereof, for or on account of wages, salaries or commissions, shall in
any proceedings be selected or claimed as exempt under this section. But
husband or wife, widower or widow, over sixty (60) years of age, who has been
an exemptionist under this section, shall not be deprived of such exemption
because of not residing therein.
§ 85-3-1. Property exempt from seizure under execution or attachment
There shall be exempt from seizure under execution or attachment:
(a) Tangible personal property of the following kinds selected by the debtor,
not exceeding Ten Thousand Dollars ($ 10,000.00) in cumulative value:
(i) Household goods, wearing apparel, books, animals or crops;
(ii) Motor vehicles;
(iii) Implements, professional books or tools of the trade;
(iv) Cash on hand;
(v) Professionally prescribed health aids;
(vi) Any item of tangible personal property worth less than Two Hundred Dollars
($ 200.00).
Household goods, as used in this paragraph (a) means clothing, furniture,
appliances, one (1) radio and one (1) television, one (1) firearm, one (1) lawn
mower, linens, china, crockery, kitchenware, and personal effects (including
wedding rings) of the debtor and his dependents; however, works of art,
electronic entertainment equipment (except one (1) television and one (1)
radio), jewelry (other than wedding rings), and items acquired as antiques are
not included within the scope of the term "household goods." This paragraph (a)
shall not apply to distress warrants issued for collection of taxes due the
state or to wages described in Section 85-3-4.
(b) (i) The proceeds of insurance on property, real and personal, exempt from
execution or attachment, and the proceeds of the sale of such property.
(ii) Income from disability insurance.
(c) All property, real, personal and mixed, for the collection or enforcement
of any order or judgment, in whole or in part, issued by any court for civil or
criminal contempt of said court; expressly excepted herefrom are such orders or
judgments for the payment of alimony, separate maintenance and child support
actions.
(d) All property in this state, real, personal and mixed, for the satisfaction
of a judgment or claim in favor of another state or political subdivision of
another state for failure to pay that state's or that political subdivision's
income tax on benefits received from a pension or other retirement plan. As
used in this paragraph (d), "pension or other retirement plan" includes:
(i) An annuity, pension, or profit-sharing or stock bonus or similar plan
established to provide retirement benefits for an officer or employee of a
public or private employer or for a self-employed individual;
(ii) An annuity, pension, or military retirement pay plan or other retirement
plan administered by the United States; and
(iii) An individual retirement account.
(e) One (1) mobile home, trailer, manufactured housing, or similar type
dwelling owned and occupied as the primary residence by the debtor, not
exceeding a value of Twenty Thousand Dollars ($ 20,000.00); in determining this
value, existing encumbrances on said dwelling, including taxes and all other
liens, shall first be deducted from the actual value of said dwelling. A debtor
is not entitled to the exemption of a mobile home as personal property who
claims a homestead exemption under Section 85-3-21, and the exemption shall not
apply to collection of delinquent taxes under Sections 27-41-101 through
27-41-109.
(f) Assets held in, or monies payable to the participant or beneficiary from,
whether vested or not, (i) a pension, profit-sharing, stock bonus or similar
plan or contract established to provide retirement benefits for the participant
or beneficiary and qualified under Section 401(a), 403(a), or 403(b) of the
Internal Revenue Code (or corresponding provisions of any successor law),
including a retirement plan for self-employed individuals qualified under one
of such enumerated sections, (ii) an eligible deferred compensation plan
described in Section 457(b) of the Internal Revenue Code (or corresponding
provisions of any successor law) or (iii) an individual retirement account or
an individual retirement annuity within the meaning of Section 408 of the
Internal Revenue Code (or corresponding provisions of any successor law),
including a simplified employee pension plan.
(g) Nothing in this section shall in any way affect the rights or remedies of
the holder or owner of a statutory lien or voluntary security interest.
§ 85-3-2. Certain federal exemptions prohibited
In accordance with the provisions of Section 522(b) of the Bankruptcy Reform
Act of 1978, as amended (11 U.S.C.S. 522(b)), residents of the State of
Mississippi shall not be entitled to the federal exemptions provided in Section
522(d) of the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978, as amended (11 U.S.C.S. 522(d)).
Nothing in this section shall affect the exemptions given to individuals of
Mississippi by the Constitution and statutes of the State of Mississippi.
§ 85-3-4. Execution or attachment of wages, salaries or other compensation;
limitations
(1) The wages, salaries or other compensation of laborers or employees,
residents of this state, shall be exempt from seizure under attachment,
execution or garnishment for a period of thirty (30) days from the date of
service of any writ of attachment, execution or garnishment.
(2) After the passage of the period of thirty (30) days described in subsection
(1) of this section, the maximum part of the aggregate disposable earnings (as
defined by Section 1672(b) of Title 15, United States Code Annotated) of an
individual that may be levied by attachment, execution or garnishment shall be:
(a) In the case of earnings for any workweek, the lesser amount of either,
(i) Twenty-five percent (25%) of his disposable earnings for that week, or
(ii) The amount by which his disposable earnings for that week exceed thirty
(30) times the federal minimum hourly wage (prescribed by section 206 (a)(1) of
Title 29, United States Code Annotated) in effect at the time the earnings are
payable; or
(b) In the case of earnings for any period other than a week, the amount by
which his disposable earnings exceed the following "multiple" of the federal
minimum hourly wage which is equivalent in effect to that set forth in
subparagraph (a)(ii) of this subsection (2): The number of workweeks, or
fractions thereof multiplied by thirty (30) multiplied by the applicable
federal minimum wage.
(3) (a) The restrictions of subsection (1) and (2) of this section do not apply
in the case of:
(i) Any order for the support of any person issued by a court of competent
jurisdiction or in accordance with an administrative procedure, which is
established by state law, which affords substantial due process, and which is
subject to judicial review.
(ii) Any debt due for any state or local tax.
(b) Except as provided in subparagraph (b)(iii) of this subsection (3), the
maximum part of the aggregate disposable earnings of an individual for any
workweek which is subject to garnishment to enforce any order for the support
of any person shall not exceed:
(i) Where such individual is supporting his spouse or dependent child (other
than a spouse or child with respect to whose support such order is used), fifty
percent (50%) of such individual's disposable earnings for that week; and
(ii) Where such individual is not supporting such a spouse or dependent child
described in subparagraph (b)(i) of this subsection (3), sixty percent (60%) of
such individual's disposable earnings for that week;
(iii) With respect to the disposable earnings of any individual for that
workweek, the fifty percent (50%) specified in subparagraph (b)(i) of this
subsection (3) shall be deemed to be fifty-five percent (55%) and the sixty
percent (60%) specified in subparagraph (b)(ii) of this subsection (3) shall be
deemed to be sixty-five percent (65%), if and to the extent that such earnings
are subject to garnishment to enforce a support order with respect to a period
which is prior to the period of twelve (12) weeks which ends with the beginning
of such workweek.
§ 85-3-11. Proceeds of life insurance policy; named beneficiaries; certain
proceeds of policies exempt from liability for debts of person insured
(1) Except as provided in subsection (2), all proceeds of a life insurance
policy including cash surrender and loan values, shall inure to the party or
parties named as the beneficiaries thereof, free from all liability for the
debts of the person whose life was insured, even though such person paid the
premium thereon. In addition, all proceeds, including cash surrender and loan
values, of a policy of life insurance owned by or assigned to another, shall
inure to the beneficiary or beneficiaries named therein, subject to terms of
any assignment, free from all liability for debts of the person whose life was
insured.
(2) (a) The exemption authorized in Subsection (1) shall not apply to that
portion of the cash surrender value or loan value of any life insurance policy
which exceeds the sum of Fifty Thousand Dollars ($ 50,000.00) as a result of
premiums paid or premium deposits or other payments made within twelve (12)
months of issuance of a writ of seizure, attachment, garnishment or other
process or the filing of a voluntary or involuntary bankruptcy proceeding under
the United States Code.
(b) The amount of any premiums for the insurance paid with intent to defraud
creditors, with interest thereon, shall inure to the benefit of such creditors
from the proceeds of the policy; but the insurer issuing the policy shall be
discharged of all liabilities thereon by payment of its proceeds in accordance
with its terms, unless before such payment the insurer shall have written
notice, by or on behalf of a creditor, of a claim to recover for transfer made
or premiums paid with intent to defraud creditors with specification of the
amount claimed.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary, a creditor possessing
a valid assignment from the policy owner may recover from either the cash
surrender value or the proceeds of the life insurance policy the amount secured
by the assignment with interest.
§ 85-3-13. Proceeds of life insurance policy; payable to executor; limits
The proceeds of a life insurance policy not exceeding Fifty Thousand Dollars ($
50,000.00) payable to the executor, or administrator, of the insured, shall
inure to the heirs or legatees, freed from all liability for the debts of the
decedent, except premiums paid on the policy by any one other than the insured,
for debts due for expenses of last illness and for burial; but if the life of
the deceased be otherwise insured for the benefit of his heirs or legatees at
the time of his death, and they shall collect the same, the sum collected shall
be deducted from the Fifty Thousand Dollars ($ 50,000.00) and the excess of the
latter only shall be exempt. No fee shall be paid or allowed by the court to
the executor or administrator for handling same.
§ 85-3-15. Proceeds of life insurance policy; unassigned policies
The proceeds of all unassigned life insurance policies payable to the executor
or administrator of the insured, upon the death of the insured, shall, whether
exempt or not, be paid by such insurance company, to the executor or
administrator of such insured deceased, and the receipt of such executor or
administrator shall constitute a full and complete acquittance to such
insurance company as against the claims of any and all persons claiming any
rights under such policy of insurance.
§ 85-3-17. Judgment for personal injury
The proceeds of any judgment not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($ 10,000.00)
recovered by any person on account of personal injuries sustained, shall inure
to the party or parties in whose favor such judgment may be rendered, free from
all liabilities for the debts of the person injured.
§ 83-29-39. Benefit not attachable
No money or other benefit, charity, relief, or aid to be paid, provided, or
rendered by any such society shall be liable to attachment, garnishment, or
other process, or be seized, taken, appropriated, or applied by any legal or
equitable process or operation of law to pay any debt or liability of a member
or beneficiary or any other person who may have a right thereunder, either
before or after payment.
§ 83-7-5. Proceeds of policy not subject to judicial process or assignment while
in hands of company
If, under the terms of any annuity contract, or policy of life insurance, or
under any written agreement supplemental thereto issued by any life insurance
company, the proceeds are retained by such company at maturity or otherwise, no
person entitled to any part of such proceeds, or any installments of interest
due or to become due thereon, shall be permitted to commute, anticipate,
encumber, alienate, or assign the same, or any part thereof, if such permission
is expressly withheld by the terms of such contract, policy, or supplemental
agreement. If such contract, policy, or supplemental agreement so provides, no
payment of interest or of principal shall be in any way subject to such
person's debts, contracts, or engagements, nor to any judicial processes to
levy upon or attach the same for payment thereof. No such company shall be
required to segregate such funds, but may hold them as a part of its general
corporate funds.
§ 43-29-15. Assistance not assignable
No assistance given under this chapter shall be transferable or assignable, at
law or in equity, and none of the money paid or payable under this chapter
shall be subject to execution, levy, attachment, garnishment or other legal
process, or to the operation of any bankruptcy or insolvency law.
§ 43-3-71. Assistance not assignable
Assistance granted under Sections 43-3-51 through 43-3-91 shall not be
transferable or assignable, at law or in equity, and none of the money paid or
payable under said sections shall be subject to execution, levy, attachment,
garnishment or other legal process, or to the operation of any bankruptcy or
insolvency law.
§ 43-9-19. Assistance not assignable
No assistance given under this chapter shall be transferable or assignable, at
law or in equity, and none of the money paid or payable under this chapter
shall be subject to execution, levy, attachment, garnishment or other legal
process, or to the operation of any bankruptcy or insolvency law.
§ 71-1-43. Income or principal of employee trust plan not to be encumbered
The income or principal payable to a beneficiary or beneficiaries under any
trust created by an employer as part of a pension plan, disability or death
benefit plan, profit-sharing plan, or under any trust created under a
retirement plan for which provision has been made under the laws of the United
States of America exempting such trust from federal income tax shall not be
pledged, assigned, transferred, sold, or in any manner whatsoever accelerated,
anticipated, or encumbered by the beneficiary or beneficiaries. Nor shall any
income or principal be in any manner subject or liable in the hands of the
trustee for the debts, contracts, or engagements of the beneficiary or
beneficiaries, or be subject to any assignment or other involuntary alienation
or disposition whatsoever. Nor shall any income or principal be subject to the
levy of any execution, writ of attachment, or garnishment thereon.
§ 71-5-539. No assignment of benefits; exemptions
Any assignment, pledge or incumbrance of any right to benefits which are or may
become due or payable under this chapter shall be void. Such rights to benefits
shall be exempt from levy, execution, attachment or any other remedy whatsoever
provided for the collection of debt; and benefits received by any individual,
so long as they are not mingled with other funds of the recipient, shall be
exempt from any remedy whatsoever for the collection of all debts except debts
incurred for necessities furnished to such individual or his spouse or
dependents during the time when such individual was unemployed. Any waiver of
any exemption provided in this section shall be void. This section does not
apply to the deduction from benefits provided by Section 71-5-516.
§ 71-3-43. Assignment and exemption from claims of creditors
No assignment, release, or commutation of compensation or benefits due or
payable under this chapter, except as provided by this chapter, shall be valid;
and such compensation and benefits shall be exempt from all claims of creditors
and from levy, execution, and attachment or other remedy for recovery or
collection of a debt, which exemption may be waived. This section prevails over
Sections 75-9-406 and 75-9-408 of Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code to
the extent, if any, that these sections may otherwise be applicable.
§ 21-29-257. Exemption from process
No part of said fund to which any of said firemen or policemen shall be
entitled, or which may be payable or ordered paid to him shall be seized,
attached, assigned or levied upon by any writ of attachment, garnishment,
execution, sequestration or other like process or writ.
§ 21-29-51. Rights to any benefit under this Article governed by Section
21-29-307
The right of a person to an annuity, a retirement allowance or benefit, or to
the return of contributions, or to any optional benefit or any other right
accrued or accruing to any person under the provisions of this article, any
retirement system and the moneys in any retirement system created by this
article, shall be governed by the provisions of Section 21-29-307, Mississippi
Code of 1972.
§ 25-11-129. Exemptions from taxation, execution, and assignment; deductions from
retirement allowances for payment of employer or system sponsored group life or
health insurance
(1) The right of a person to an annuity, a retirement allowance or benefit, or
to the return of contributions, or to any optional benefit or any other right
accrued or accruing to any person under the provisions of Articles 1 and 3, the
system and the monies in the system created by said articles, are hereby exempt
from any state, county or municipal ad valorem taxes, income taxes, premium
taxes, privilege taxes, property taxes, sales and use taxes or other taxes not
so named, notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, and
exempt from levy and sale, garnishment, attachment or any other process
whatsoever, and shall be unassignable except as specifically otherwise provided
in this article and except as otherwise provided in subsection (2) of this
section.
(2) Any retired member or beneficiary receiving a retirement allowance or
benefit under this article may authorize the system to make deductions from the
retirement allowance or benefit for the payment of employer or system sponsored
group life or health insurance. The deductions authorized under this subsection
shall be subject to rules and regulations adopted by the board.
§ 25-11-201. Continuance of certain vested rights
(1) As soon after July 1, 1952, as practicable, but not later than July 15,
1952, the board of trustees of the teachers' retirement system shall transfer
all funds and securities held by the teachers' retirement system to the
trustees of the public employees' retirement system created by Sections 25-11-1
through 25-11-139, and the corporation known as the teachers' retirement system
of Mississippi shall be dissolved as of the date thereof. The board of trustees
of the teachers' retirement system shall at that time make a full and complete
report and accounting as to all funds and securities in its possession and
under its control, and shall transfer all books, records, papers, and equipment
under its control to the board of trustees of the public employees' retirement
system. Under the provisions of said Sections 25-11-1 through 25-11-139, the
board of trustees of the public employees' retirement system shall from that
date proceed with the liquidation of the teachers' retirement system as
follows:
(a) Any former member of the teachers' retirement system who has been retired
under any of the provisions of chapter 161, laws of 1944, or any former member
who may be retired under said act prior to July 1, 1952, shall continue to
receive the benefits provided by said chapter 161, as amended, just as if said
act had not been repealed, together with an additional retirement benefit in
the amount of twenty percent thereof. Where necessary, an additional retirement
benefit shall be made to any retired teacher under this section in order to
provide a minimum retirement benefit of forty dollars per month. From and after
July 1, 1968, each and every benefit payment outlined above shall be increased
by twenty-five percent, making the minimum payment fifty dollars per month and
the maximum payment seventy-five dollars per month. From and after January 1,
1967, any former teacher who had retired from teaching services on account of
age prior to the date of abolishment of the teachers' retirement system of
Mississippi and who at that time had thirty years or more of teaching service,
the last twenty years of which were in this state, and who has attained age
sixty-five years or over shall be entitled to receive the minimum monthly
retirement payment, from and after making application for such payment to the
board of trustees of the public employees' retirement system and furnishing the
proper proof of age and services. The payment of these benefits is hereby made
an obligation of the State of Mississippi. The legislature shall annually
appropriate an amount sufficient to pay these benefits which shall be credited
to a trust fund to be designated as "Fund B." Payment of benefits to members of
the teachers' retirement system retired prior to July 1, 1952, shall be paid
from said "Fund B" and from no other source, except that any public school
district or public junior college, by action of the board of trustees thereof,
with funds derived locally, may provide additional supplementary benefits for
teachers retired on or before July 1, 1952, but not to exceed one percent of
the instructional budget in any fiscal year shall be so used.
(b) If any person having made contributions under such chapter 161 dies prior
to its repeal but before retiring, his accumulated contributions shall be paid
out as he shall have directed in writing. In the absence of such written
directions his accumulated contributions shall be paid to his estate. This
paragraph shall apply also to any person dying subsequent to repeal, but before
receiving his contributions.
(c) Interest on members' accumulated contributions shall cease on August 1,
1952.
(d) The accumulated contributions of the several members shall be set aside in
a trust fund designated as "Fund A" to be held for refund to the respective
persons or beneficiaries entitled thereto; no interest shall be allowed. Until
refunded or otherwise disposed of, such funds, interest therein, and rights
thereto shall not be subject to legal, judicial, or other process.
(e) Within six (6) months after July 1, 1952, or as soon thereafter as
practicable, the accumulated contributions of the members, less an amount
sufficient to pay the employees' contributions as provided in article 1 from
the effective date of the federal-state agreement to July 1, 1952, shall be
returned to the members respectively entitled thereto, or shall be used to
purchase an additional annuity in accordance with Section 25-11-123(a)(3) if
the member in writing shall affirmatively direct the custodian of such funds to
transfer such member's contributions to the public employees' retirement system
to be used for this purpose.
In any event, if no election has been made, such member's contributions shall
be returned to him or, if deceased, be paid as he shall have directed. In the
absence of such written direction, his accumulated contributions shall be paid
to his estate.
(f) All other funds of whatsoever nature and kind transferred from the
teachers' retirement system of Mississippi shall be set aside in the state
treasury as a trust fund to be designated as "Fund C." From this fund there
shall be paid the employer's contribution as provided in said article 1 from
the effective date of the federal-state agreement to January 1, 1953. Any
balance remaining in this fund after such payment shall be transferred to "Fund
B" to be applied toward the payment of an additional allowance of twenty
percent as provided by subparagraph (a) of this section to persons retired for
service or disability on or before July 1, 1952, under chapter 161, laws of
1944, as amended, or their beneficiaries.
(2) The effectiveness of that provision in subparagraph (1)(a) of this section,
which adopts a minimum benefit of fifty dollars per month for all teachers
retired under the former teachers' retirement system, shall be contingent upon
the annual appropriation of sufficient funds to pay the same for the fiscal
year commencing July 1, 1970, and each succeeding fiscal year.
§ 79-12-49. Nature of a partner's right in specific partnership property.
[Repealed effective January 1, 2007]
(1) A partner is co-owner with his partners of specific partnership property
holding as a tenant in partnership.
(2) The incidents of this tenancy are such that:
(a) A partner, subject to the provisions of this chapter and to any agreement
between the partners, has an equal right with his partners to possess specific
partnership property for partnership purposes; but he has no right to possess
such property for any other purpose without the consent of his partners.
(b) A partner's right in specific partnership property is not assignable except
in connection with the assignment of rights of all the partners in the same
property.
(c) A partner's right in specific partnership property is not subject to
attachment or execution, except on a claim against the partnership. When
partnership property is attached for a partnership debt the partners, or any of
them, or the representatives of a deceased partner, cannot claim any right
under the homestead or exemption laws.
(d) On the death of a partner his right in specific partnership property vests
in the surviving partner or partners, except where the deceased was the last
surviving partner, when his right in such property vests in his legal
representative. Such surviving partner or partners, or the legal representative
of the last surviving partner, has no right to possess the partnership property
for any but a partnership purpose.
(e) A partner's right in specific partnership property is not subject to dower,
curtesy, or allowances to widows, heirs or next of kin.
Note: Exemptions may have changed since our last update. For the latest updates on these property exemptions, speak to a local bankruptcy lawyer.
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