A basic principle of the American legal system is that a person who brings a lawsuit must have a legitimate reason to do so. This principle is embodied in the doctrine of standing, which refers to the ability of a party to demonstrate that it has a legitimate interest in the outcome of a case so as to justify that party’s participation on the case. In the words of the United States Supreme Court, “the question of standing is whether the litigant is entitled to have the court decide the merits of the dispute or of particular issues.”[1] A person without standing cannot bring a lawsuit.
The law of standing applies to will contests as well. In order to contest a will and the bequests made within the document, one must first have standing to come before the court. A person has standing to contest a will when they are deemed to be an interested party.
In Mississippi, any interested party may contest the validity of a will as long as the contest comes within the two years that follow the will’s admittance to probate in common form. If the interested party fails to bring contest within the two-year period, the probate is final and binding. There is an exception to the finality of the probate is made for minors and people of unsound mind who may wish to contest the will. They will receive an additional two years to contest validity once their respective disabilities have been removed.[2]
Interested parties are defined as “parties who have a pecuniary interest in the subject of the contest, and under all of the authorities the heirs at law who would take the property of the deceased in the absence of a valid will.”[3]
[1] Warth v. Seldin, 422 U.S. 490, 498 (1975).
[2] See Miss. Code Ann. § 91-7-23.
[3] Hoskins v. Holmes County Cmty. Hosp., 135 Miss. 89, 101, 99 So. 570, 573 (1924).
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