What Probate Covers in Simpson County
Probate in Simpson County is a Chancery Court matter. Chancery Court is Mississippi's separate court of equity, set apart from the Circuit Court that hears felonies and large civil suits. The Simpson County Chancery Court processes estates of people who die with or without a Last Will and Testament, and it handles all issues involving minors. A chancellor usually hears these cases without a jury. The reach is broad. It covers wills admitted to probate, estate administration, letters that empower a personal representative, inventories, creditor claims, guardianships, conservatorships, and estate land matters.
The clerk for this court is the Chancery Clerk, not the Circuit Clerk. The Chancery Clerk's office lists probate of wills, guardianships, estates and conservatorships, and genealogical studies among its duties. That last item reaches back to the county's formation in 1823, which makes the office useful for deep family research as well as current filings. People often send a probate question to the wrong counter. The first rule is simple: estate and will files live on the Chancery side, while criminal and general civil files live on the Circuit side.
Probate Terms Defined
Probate filings use words that rarely come up in daily life. A short glossary helps a reader follow an estate file, a guardianship petition, or a notice posted by the court. The terms below appear across most Simpson County estate matters.
- Testator
- The person who made the will. A valid will speaks for the testator after death and names who should inherit.
- Executor
- The person named in a will to carry it out, gather assets, pay debts, and distribute what remains. The court confirms this role through letters testamentary.
- Intestate
- Dying without a valid will. An intestate estate is divided under Mississippi law, and the court appoints an administrator instead of an executor.
- Guardianship
- Court-supervised legal authority over a minor or an incapacitated person, covering care and well-being.
- Conservatorship
- Court-supervised management of another person's property and financial affairs.
How to Search Simpson County Probate Records
Simpson County does not run its own public probate search on the official county website. Chancery Court files, including estate and probate matters, route through Mississippi Electronic Courts, the statewide system the trial courts use for e-filing. Public viewing happens through Public Access to MEC, known as PAMEC, which asks for a username and password. A viewer who only wants to read case detail still has to register, since the system will not open a file to an anonymous visitor. Registration runs online through the MEC online registration page.
Several channels lead to the same estate file. The right one depends on the age of the case, whether a certified copy is needed, and whether the matter is open to the public at all.
- Online through PAMEC, which covers Chancery Court e-filed records once credentials are active.
- At the Chancery Clerk counter in Mendenhall, the primary source for probate searches and certified copies.
- By mail to the Chancery Clerk for files that are older or not indexed online.
- By phone to the Chancery Clerk to confirm what a file needs before traveling or paying.
- Through a Mississippi Public Records Act request directed to the Chancery Clerk as custodian of the file.
Gather a few details before any search. Have the decedent or estate name, a party name, and a case number if one is known. The exact Simpson County Chancery search fields are not visible without a PAMEC login, so the clerk's office remains the surest route for anyone without an account.
Chancery Court and Chancery Clerk Contacts
Probate routing in Simpson County depends on reaching the right office. The Chancery Clerk keeps and copies the files, while the chancellors decide the cases. Both work out of Mendenhall, the county seat.
Simpson County Chancery Clerk
Tim Gray, Chancery Clerk
PO Box 367
Mendenhall, MS 39114
601-847-2626 (fax 601-847-7016)
tgray@co.simpson.ms.us
Simpson County Chancery Court
Chancellor David Shoemake
601-765-8284
Chancellor Gerald M. Martin
601-822-5017
Mendenhall, MS 39114
Note: Confirm current hours and any filing requirement with the Chancery Clerk before a visit, since the official county pages do not publish probate counter hours or parking rules.
How Probate Works in Simpson County
An estate matter moves through a set sequence, whether or not there is a will. The steps below follow the path a family takes when opening and working a Simpson County estate or guardianship.
- Determine the type of matter. Decide whether it is a will probate, an intestate estate, a guardianship, a conservatorship, or a related land or equity issue.
- Contact the Chancery Clerk, not the Circuit Clerk. The Chancery Clerk is the clerk of Chancery Court and holds the probate-of-wills and estate duties.
- Search by decedent name, estate name, party name, or case number when one is available. A PAMEC login is required for online access.
- Ask the Chancery Clerk about copy fees, certified copy fees, and whether the file is public or restricted.
- For older family or genealogy estate research, use the Chancery Clerk's genealogical studies that reach back to the county's 1823 formation.
- For minors, guardianships, conservatorships, adoptions, and mental-health-linked matters, expect restrictions or a court-order requirement.
Records Kept in Simpson County Probate Files
A probate file grows as an estate is settled. Each filing adds to the record, from the first petition to the final order closing the estate. The Chancery Clerk holds the documents that mark each stage of the process.
- Wills admitted to probate, plus estates opened with or without a will.
- Petitions and orders that open an estate file.
- Letters testamentary or letters of administration that empower a representative.
- Inventories and accountings where the court requires them.
- Creditor claims and notices to creditors.
- Orders approving a sale, a distribution, or the closing of the estate.
- Guardianships, conservatorships, and land matters tied to estate administration.
Genealogical records round out the set. Because the Chancery Clerk's research role reaches back to 1823, older estate, land, and minute material can support family history work that modern dockets alone cannot.
What Simpson County Probate Records Show
No sample Simpson County probate file could be viewed without PAMEC credentials, so the fields below reflect the office's documented duties rather than a screen captured from inside the portal. They show the kind of detail a typical estate or guardianship file carries once it is opened in Chancery Court.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Decedent or estate name | The person whose estate is being settled, or the named estate. |
| Petition type | Will probate, intestate administration, guardianship, or conservatorship. |
| Court | Simpson County Chancery Court. |
| Case number | The court-assigned number for the matter. |
| Filing date | The date the estate or petition was opened. |
| Fiduciary or petitioner | The executor, administrator, guardian, or conservator named in the file. |
| Chancellor | The judge handling the matter. |
| Orders and filings | Letters, inventories, claims, and orders entered as the estate proceeds. |
Note: Filings on the statewide system must strip Social Security numbers, dates of birth, names of minor children, financial account numbers, and home addresses before they post.
Simpson County Probate and Copy Fees
Cost is the most common question after a search, and it is also the largest gap in the published Simpson County material. The county's official pages do not post a probate filing fee or a copy price for the Chancery Clerk. The safest step is to ask the Chancery Clerk directly before mailing payment or a request. The table reflects what the official sources do and do not publish.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Probate filing fee | Not published, confirm with the Chancery Clerk |
| Plain copies | Not published, confirm with the Chancery Clerk |
| Certified copies | Not published, confirm with the Chancery Clerk |
| Will safekeeping or deposit | No such program located in official county sources |
A phone call to 601-847-2626 settles the amount before any file or payment moves. The clerk can also say whether a certified copy is needed, since a certified copy carries the court seal and is the version accepted for legal use.
Federal Courts Apart From Simpson County Probate
County Chancery probate is separate from the federal court system. Estate disputes settled under state law stay in Simpson County Chancery Court, but some matters that touch an estate, such as a federal lawsuit or a federal tax issue, sit in federal court instead. Simpson County falls within the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi for those federal matters.
Anyone who needs to confirm where a federal case lives can start with the federal court lookup. The PACER court lookup for the Southern District of Mississippi shows the district's electronic filing details.
That lookup confirms the federal venue, but it does not hold a single Simpson County will or estate file. Those remain with the Chancery Clerk in Mendenhall.
Federal dockets and documents come from one national system rather than a county counter. The federal PACER site is the gateway for searching federal court records and managing an access account.
PACER and PAMEC are different systems with different logins. PAMEC opens Mississippi state court records, including Simpson County Chancery probate, while PACER opens federal files only.
Bankruptcy Records and Simpson County Estates
Bankruptcy is a federal matter, never a Chancery Clerk filing. It can still cross paths with an estate when a person owed money, or owed it to others, before death. A creditor claim in a Simpson County estate may sit beside a federal bankruptcy case, yet the two records live in different courts.
The federal bankruptcy court for the region keeps those filings. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Mississippi is the venue for bankruptcy cases that involve county residents.
A bankruptcy file does not appear in a Chancery probate search, and an estate file does not appear in the bankruptcy system. Anyone tracing both for the same person checks each court on its own.
Restricted Simpson County Probate Records
Not every Chancery file is open. Probate sits on the same court side as several matters the law keeps confidential, so a probate search can run into a closed door. Guardianship matters that involve minors carry restrictions, and adoption-connected files are not ordinary public records. Mental-health and commitment material is shielded under Miss. Code Section 41-21-97, which keeps treatment records confidential except by authorization, court order, or another listed exception.
Youth court files carry their own shield under Miss. Code Section 43-21-251, and in Simpson County the Chancery Court hears youth matters where no separate Family or County Court exists. Adoption files connect to the family side covered on the Simpson County marriage and divorce records page, and those too stay closed. Sealed estate filings need court authority or a qualifying role before anyone may view them. When a file may be restricted, the safest step is to ask the Chancery Clerk what the law allows in that specific case rather than assuming the record is open.
For estate matters that are open, the clerk's counter and PAMEC remain the two reliable routes. The broader role of the county's clerks, including the split between the Circuit and Chancery offices, is profiled on the Simpson County clerk page.