At a glance
| State estate tax | No |
|---|---|
| Estate top rate | — |
| Inheritance tax | No |
| Small-estate ceiling | $75,000Miss. Code § 91-7-322 (S.B. 2850, 2020) · 2020 |
| TOD deed for real estate | AvailableMiss. Code § 91-27-1 et seq. (Real Property TOD Act, 2020) · 2020 |
| Community-property state | No |
Estate tax
Mississippi does not levy its own estate tax. An estate here is subject only to the federal estate tax, which most estates never owe — the federal exclusion is measured in the millions. See the federal lifetime exemption for how that works.
Inheritance tax
Mississippi has no inheritance tax — beneficiaries are not taxed on what they receive by the state. Mississippi imposes no inheritance tax; beneficiaries receive Mississippi assets free of any state death-transfer tax.
Probate basics
A successor may collect personal property by affidavit 30 days after death when the estate, less liens, does not exceed $75,000 (raised from $50,000 in 2020). This reaches only personal property — real property passes instead through a will as muniment of title or a recorded TOD deed.
Mississippi is a common-law (separate-property) state for ownership between spouses. A transfer-on-death deed for real estate is Available Miss. Code § 91-27-1 et seq. (Real Property TOD Act, 2020) · 2020. The probate deadlines for this state — filing the will, the creditor-claim window, the inventory — are cited in the Executor & Heir’s Guide.
State-specific quirks
The small-estate affidavit does not transfer real estate
The § 91-7-322 affidavit reaches only personal property. Mississippi real property is not conveyed by it — it must pass through a will admitted as muniment of title or a recorded TOD deed, so the $75,000 threshold is not a route to move a home or land out of probate.
The transfer-on-death deed is new and date-gated
Mississippi only authorized transfer-on-death deeds effective July 1, 2020, and only for a deed executed on or after that date by a transferor who dies on or after it. Property passing by TOD deed remains subject to the decedent's creditors.
Separate-property state
Mississippi is not a community-property state, so there is no automatic full step-up in basis on the whole of a married couple's jointly held assets at the first death.
Where to read next
- the federal lifetime exemption — how the far larger federal exclusion works — and why a state tax can still apply below it
- funding a revocable trust — the most common way to keep property out of probate entirely
- the ILIT cluster — keeping a life-insurance death benefit out of a taxable estate
- the Executor & Heir's Guide — the probate deadlines for this state, cited to the statute
- ← Back to the 51-jurisdiction comparison
Sources & methodology
Methodology & sources
Every tax figure on this page links to the primary source it was verified against — a Mississippi statute or department-of-revenue page — with that source’s own effective date. Aggregator round-ups are never used as a source. State death and probate law changes every legislative session; this page carries the date it was last re-verified, and any figure that could not be confirmed from a primary source is flagged for you to check with the state rather than guessed. See our editorial standards.
This page is educational and is not legal or tax advice. Whether a death tax applies turns on residency, where property sits, and how title is held — details a general page cannot resolve. Confirm your own situation with a professional licensed in Mississippi.
Last verified July 20, 2026.