Search Stone County Probate Records

What Chancery Court Probate Covers in Stone County

Stone County has no separate probate court. Chancery Court handles probate, and the Chancery Clerk keeps the files. The county describes Chancery Court as the venue for estates of decedents, land and title questions, property disputes, insurance settlements paid to minors, commitments, and family matters. The Chancery Clerk handles estates, guardianships, conservatorships, divorces, custody, adoption, and other equity work. Probate is one slice of that broader chancery docket. Stone County sits in the Eighth Chancery District, so the same judges who hear divorce and custody also rule on wills and estates.

The probate side covers a clear set of matters. Each one opens a file with the Chancery Clerk and moves before a chancery judge. The list below shows the work that lands on the probate docket.

• Wills and the estates of people who have died.
• Estate administration, including naming an executor or administrator.
• Guardianships and conservatorships.
• Minor settlements and insurance money paid to minors.
• Trust, land, and title matters tied to estate property.
• Property disputes and title confirmation.

Chancery Court also hears divorce and custody, which show up in Stone County marriage and divorce records. Those files share the same clerk and the same courthouse as probate.

Stone County Probate Terms Defined

Probate filings use a small set of legal words again and again. A quick guide helps the record make sense. The terms below appear in most Stone County estate and guardianship files.

Testator

The person who made the will. The will speaks for the testator after death.

Executor

The person named in the will to carry it out and settle the estate.

Administrator

The person the court appoints to settle an estate when there is no will, or no named executor can serve.

Intestate

Dying without a valid will. State law then sets who inherits.

Guardianship

A court arrangement that puts an adult in charge of a minor or another person who cannot manage their own affairs.

Conservatorship

A court arrangement that places someone in charge of the money and property of a person who cannot manage them.

Note: An executor is named in a will, while an administrator is appointed by the court, but both serve as the estate fiduciary under the judge's oversight.

How to Search Stone County Probate Records

There is no single Stone County probate portal. Chancery filings live in Mississippi Electronic Courts and on the Eighth District docket tools. The Eighth Chancery District MEC site and statewide MEC resources hold chancery case data. The Eighth District also posts a scheduled-docket notice that lets users search by name or by date. That notice covers current and future settings only, so it will not run a search on a past date.

Not every file is online. Older estate files and documents that were never posted stay at the courthouse. For those, the Chancery Clerk is the source. The steps below cover the main paths in order.

1. Decide what the file is: an estate, a will, a guardianship, a conservatorship, or another equity matter.
2. For a current or upcoming hearing, search the Eighth District scheduled docket by name or by date.
3. Check the Eighth Chancery MEC site and statewide MEC for chancery case filings.
4. Call or visit the Chancery Clerk for older estate files or records that are not online.
5. Submit a public-records request when a file is not posted and you cannot reach it in person.

The Mississippi Public Records Act supports access to court records. The Public Records Act treats public records as open for inspection unless a statute closes them. A probate file that is not online is not always closed. It may simply need a request.

Stone County Probate Search Fields

The chancery docket tools take a few search inputs and return a short set of result columns. The scheduled-docket notice published for the Eighth District drives most name and date lookups. The table lists each field, whether it is required, and how it behaves.

Eighth Chancery District Court and Chancery Clerk

Stone County probate runs out of one building in Wiggins. The Eighth Chancery District judges who sit over these cases are Hon. Margaret Alfonso, Hon. Jim Persons, Hon. Jennifer Schloegel, and Hon. Carter Bise. The Chancery Clerk, Samuel Tom Smith, keeps the estate and guardianship files and serves as the office of record for them. The card below holds the address, phone, fax, email, and hours.

Note: The Chancery Clerk also serves as the county public recorder, so land and title records tied to an estate are held under the same roof as the probate file.

How Probate Works in Stone County

An estate moves through Chancery Court in a set order. The path is similar whether the person left a will or not. The clerk opens the file, the judge appoints a fiduciary, and the estate is then settled under court oversight. The steps below trace a typical Stone County estate from start to close.

1. Decide whether the matter is an estate, will, guardianship, conservatorship, minor settlement, title confirmation, or related equity matter.
2. Contact the Chancery Clerk to confirm current filing requirements, the fee, and whether an attorney is needed for that type of petition.
3. File the petition in Chancery Court. If a will exists, the petition usually asks the court to admit the will and appoint an executor. With no will, it may request administration.
4. The court may issue letters testamentary or letters of administration once the fiduciary is appointed.
5. The fiduciary handles notice to creditors, inventory, accounting, claims, transfers, and distribution under the judge's orders.
6. Guardianship and conservatorship cases add filings on the ward, the assets, the care plan, and the accounting the court reviews.

Notice to creditors is a key duty in a Mississippi estate. Section 91-7-145 of the Mississippi Code calls for a diligent inquiry to find estate creditors and give them notice. Exact timing and wording should be checked against current code and court practice before any filing.

Stone County Probate Filing Fees

Stone County does not publish a probate or chancery filing-fee schedule online. The county posts a separate land-records filing-fee sheet through the Chancery Clerk, but that sheet covers deeds and recordings, not estate or guardianship petitions. To avoid quoting a wrong number, treat the figures below as a call for current rates rather than fixed amounts. The Chancery Clerk sets and collects these fees and can confirm them by phone.

Call ahead before you file. The clerk can tell you the filing fee, the certified-copy charge, and whether the type of petition you plan to bring needs an attorney.

What Stone County Probate Records Show

A probate file builds the same way from case to case. It opens with the estate name and the people involved, then fills with the orders and reports the court reviews. Pulling a file shows who the decedent was, who is in charge, and how the estate is being settled. The fields below appear in most Stone County estate records.

• Estate name, such as "In re Estate of" the decedent, with the decedent's name and date of death.
• Petitioner name and the petitioner's relationship to the decedent.
• The executor, administrator, guardian, or conservator named in the case.
• Cause number and filing date.
• Whether a will was admitted or the estate is intestate, and any bond required.
• Inventory, accounting, creditor claims, notices, and publication.
• Orders appointing the fiduciary or approving a sale, distribution, or final accounting, plus the judge and hearing date.

Sensitive data is not open to view. Minor identities, medical information, and protected financial identifiers are restricted or redacted on the public-facing record. For circuit criminal and civil files outside the chancery docket, the Stone County court records guide covers the separate search path.

Restricted Stone County Probate Records

Most probate dockets and orders are public. Some are not. Chancery Court hears matters that touch minors, mental health, and adoption, and those carry strict limits. A file that involves a child or a protected adult is not open the way an ordinary adult estate is. The court can also seal a file or redact parts of it.

Youth and child records sit under tight rules. Mississippi keeps youth court records confidential. Section 43-21-251 states that youth court records and their contents stay confidential except as the law allows. Adoption files heard in Chancery Court are not open general case files, and access usually needs party status or a court order.

Mental-health commitments are restricted as well. Chancery Court hears commitments of people with a mental disability, and those records should be treated as confidential. Even in an open estate, the clerk redacts or withholds Social Security numbers, account numbers, minor names, and medical detail before a public copy goes out.

Note: A record that is missing from an online search is not always sealed; it may be older, never posted, or simply waiting on a records request.