Mississippi Code 1972 (2023) › Title 93 - DOMESTIC RELATIONS (§§ 93-1-1 — 93-31-7) › Chapter 20 - GUARDIANSHIP AND CONSERVATORSHIP (§§ 93-20-101 — 93-20-431) › Article 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS (§§ 93-20-101 — 93-20-125) › Section 93-20-102 - Definitions

In this chapter:
(a)
"Adult" means an individual at least twenty-one (21) years of age or an emancipated individual under twenty-one (21) years of age.
(b)
"Claim" includes a claim against an individual or conservatorship estate, whether arising in contract, tort, or otherwise.
(c)
"Conservator" means a person appointed by a court to make decisions with respect to the property or financial affairs of a ward. The term includes a co-conservator.
(d)
"Conservatorship estate" means the property subject to conservatorship under this chapter.
(e)
"Full conservatorship" means a conservatorship that grants the conservator all powers available under this chapter.
(f)
"Full guardianship" means a guardianship that grants the guardian all powers available under this chapter.
(g)
"Guardian" means a person appointed by the court to make decisions with respect to the personal affairs of the ward. The term includes a co-guardian but does not include a guardian ad litem.
(h)
"Guardian ad litem" means a qualified person appointed by the court to inform the court about the ward, to protect the best interests of the ward, and to make recommendations to the court in the best interests of the ward.
(i)
"Less restrictive alternative" means an approach to meeting an individual's needs which restricts fewer rights of the individual than would the appointment of a guardian or conservator in the discretion of the court.
(j)
"Letters of guardianship or conservatorship" means a record issued by a court certifying a guardian's or conservator's authority to act.
(k)
"Limited conservatorship" means a conservatorship that grants the conservator less than all powers available under this chapter, grants powers over only certain property, or otherwise restricts the powers of the conservator.
(l)
"Limited guardianship" means a guardianship that grants the guardian less than all powers available under this chapter or otherwise restricts the powers of the guardian.
(m)
"Minor" means an unemancipated individual under twenty-one (21) years of age.
(n)
"Notice" means any notice as provided by Rule 5 of the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure.
(o)
"Parent" does not include an individual whose parental rights have been terminated.
(p)
"Person" means an individual, estate, business or nonprofit entity, public corporation, government or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or other legal entity.
(q)
"Property" includes tangible and intangible property.
(r)
"Record," used as a noun, means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form.
(s)
"Respondent" means an individual for whom appointment of a guardian or conservator is sought.
(t)
"Sign" means, with present intent to authenticate or adopt a record:
(i)
To execute or adopt a tangible symbol; or
(ii)
To attach to or logically associate with the record an electronic symbol, sound, or process.
(u)
"State" means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. The term includes a federally recognized Indian tribe.
(v)
"Summons" means any properly issued summons as provided by the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure.
(w)
"Ward" means an adult or minor for whom a guardian or conservator has been appointed under this chapter.
Amended by Laws, 2020, ch. 344, SB 2874,§ 1, eff. 6/23/2020.
Added by Laws, 2019, ch. 463, SB 2828,§ 1, eff. 1/1/2020.