Paternity – Mississippi Appeals Blog

Our appellate courts are back in action after the standard summer hand-down break centered around the Mississippi Bar Convention. The Mississippi Court of Appeals strikes first with six opinions today.

Lewis v. State, 2025-CP-00341-COA (Civil – PCR)
Affirming denial of a PCR motion, holding of the trial court did not err in revoking post-release supervision.
(10-0: Weddle for the Court)

White v. White, 2025-CP-00575-COA (Civil – Custody)
Affirming the chancellor’s decision to award joint legal and physical custody, holding that the decision was supported by substantial credible evidence.
(10-0: Emfinger for the Court)

In the Matter of the Estate of Gibson: Vanderford v. Estate of Gibson, 2024-CA-01355-COA (Civil – Wills, Trusts & Estates)
Affirming the chancellor’s denial of a petition to adjudicate paternity, holding that the chancellor did not err in finding the petition untimely.
(8-2-0: McCarty for the Court; Barnes concurred in part and in the result without writing; Wilson concurred in result only without writing)

In the Matter of the Estate of Manyfield: Ogden & Associates, PLLC v. Sweet, 2025-CA-00417-COA (Civil – Contract)
Reversing the chancery court’s decision denying a lien for attorney fees, holding that the chancellor abused his discretion and remanding for an apportionment of fees.
(8-2-0: Lawrence for the Court; Wilson and MacDonald concurred in part and in the result without writing)

Davis v. Davis, 2025-CA-00363-COA (Civil – Custody)
Affirming the chancellor’s custody decision, holding that the chancellor did not err in awarding custody to the mother despite the father’s arguments that the mother’s mental health was not properly considered.
(9-1-0: McDonald for the Court; Wilson concurred in part and in the result without writing)

In the Interest of T.L. a Minor: Jessica L. v. Forrest County Department of the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services, 2024-CA-00385-COA (Civil – Domestic Relations)
Affirming the Youth Court’s decision terminating parental rights, holding that there was substantial evidence to support the decision, that the youth court properly found that CPS made reasonable reunification efforts, and that there was no merit to the mother’s argument that her counsel was ineffective.
(5-2-3: Barnes for the Court; Carlton and McDonald concurred in part and in the result without writing; Wilson concurred in result only without writing; Westbrooks concurred in part and dissented in part without writing; McCarty concurred in part and dissented in part, joined by Westbrooks and joined in part by McDonald)

Other Orders

Moore v. Sta-Home Health Agency of Carthage, Inc., 2023-CA-01267-COA (denying rehearing)
Turner v. City of Tupelo, 2024-CA-01146-COA (denying rehearing)
Gardner v. State, 2025-KA-00298-COA (denying rehearing)
Rudd v. State, 2025-CP-00618-COA (denying rehearing)

Hand Down Page

The Mississippi Court of Appeals handed down six opinions of substance yesterday. There is a divorce case, a timber case, a felony, a visitation/in loco parentis case, an heirship case, and a UM/UIM case with an interesting procedural question.

Hodge v. Hodge, 2024-CA-00745-COA (Civil – Domestic Relations)
Reversing the chancellor’s decision granting the ex-wife’s petition to set aside a final divorce degree arguing that she was forced to sign it under duress, holding that the chancellor did not abuse his discretion in finding the Rule 60(b)(4) motion timely, that section 93-5-2(5) did not apply because the complaint was not contested, that the chancellor erred by determining that the final divorce decree should be set aside in part because of the ex-husband’s claim splitting, and that there was not clear and convincing evidence that the ex-husband committed fraud.
(9-0: Lawrence for the Court; Barnes did not participate)

Payne Logging, LLC v. Smith, 2024-CA-00439-COA (Civil – Property Damage)
Affirming the chancellor’s award of monetary damages in a landowner’s claim against a logging company that removed timber off their property without permission while logging a neighbor’s property, holding that the chancery court did not err in applying the statutory guidelines in section 95-5-10.
(10-0: Westbrooks for the Court)

Hall v. State, 2024-KA-00364-COA (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of attempted capital murder, holding the the verdict was supported by sufficient evidence and that it was not against the overwhelming weight of the evidence.
(10-0: Wilson for the Court)

Edwards v. Johnson, 2023-CA-01271-COA (Civil – Domestic Relations)
Reversing the chancellor’s decision denying a petition to establish visitation by a non-parent, holding that the chancellor erred in applying the doctrine of unclean hands before determining the petitioner’s in loco parentis status and, if necessary, reaching the issue of whether visitation was in the child’s best interest.
(6-3: Carlton for the Court; Weddle concurred in part and dissented in part without writing; Wilson dissented; Emfinger dissented, joined in part by Wilson and Weddle; Lawrence did not participate)

In the Matter of Estate of Lewis: Curry v. Thomas, 2024-CA-00346-COA (Civil – Wills, Trusts & Estates)
Reversing the chancellor’s decision establishing paternity, holding that the one-year limitation for paternity is self-executing and thus cannot be waived and that the petitioner was barred from asserting an heirship claim because she did not attempt to establish paternity until almost eighteen years after her putative father’s death.
(7-3*: Barnes for the Court; McCarty concurred in part and in the result without writing; McDonald concurred in result only without writing; Westbrooks specially concurred, joined by McDonald, McCarty, and Lassitter St Pe’)

Thompson v. State Farm Fire and Casualty Company, 2024-CA-00393-COA (Civil – Insurance)
Affirming the trial court’s grant of a directed verdict in favor of a UM carrier, holding that the trial court did not err in granting a directed verdict for the UM carrier because there was no proof that the tortfeasor was an uninsured motorist and UM/UIM status was a question for the jury, that the UM carrier did not waive the argument that UM coverage was not applicable because the carrier did not have a duty to prove that the tortfeastor was an uninsured motorist, and that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying a new trial.
(7-3: Barnes for the Court; McDonald dissented without writing; McCarty dissented, joined by Westbrooks and McDonald)

Practice Point – McCarty’s dissent took issue with the directed verdict being granted during the damages phase of trial in front of the jury:

Other Orders

Davis v. State, 2023-KA-00884-COA (denying rehearing)
Quinn v. State, 2023-KA-01143-COA (denying rehearing)

Hand Down Page

About

Mississippi Appeals Blog is written by Madison Taylor. I primarily post summaries of decisions from the Mississippi Supreme Court and the Mississippi Court of Appeals and some content on appellate and trial practice in Mississippi and legal miscellany. I am not affiliated with any court.

I am a shareholder at Wilkins Patterson where I have a litigation and workers’ comp practice and lead the firm’s appellate practice. I am licensed in Mississippi, Tennessee, and North Carolina and admitted to the United States Courts of Appeals for the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Circuits.

If I can assist you on an appeal or other legal matter please reach out. You can find my contact information on my firm page.

Some Representative Appeals I have handled:

Estate of Pace: Pace v. Phillips, No. 2025-CA-00223-COA (Miss. Ct. App. July 28, 2026). I represented the appellant and obtained a reversal of the chancellor’s decision canceling a probated claim.
Smith v. Dennis Wright & Son Plumbing, No. 2025-WC-00046-COA (Miss. Ct. App. Mar. 31, 2026). I represented the appellee and secured the affirmance of a decision of the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission.
Unruh v. Johnson, 404 So. 3d 1166 (Miss. 2025). I represented the appellant on interlocutory appeal and won reversal and rendered judgment.
Am. Comp. Ins. Co. v. Ruiz, 389 So. 3d 1060 (Miss. 2024). I represented the potential statutory-employer in a declaratory action filed by a subcontractor’s carrier who sought to void workers’ compensation coverage ab initio after a catastrophic injury. We won summary judgment in federal district court based on a novel theory that the common law remedy of voiding a policy ab initio for material misrepresentation was not available to workers’ compensation policies in Mississippi. On appeal, the Fifth Circuit certified that legal question to the Mississippi Supreme Court. The Mississippi Supreme Court ordered briefing and then held that our theory was correct. The Fifth Circuit took that holding and affirmed the district court’s judgment in our favor.
Joe McGee Constr. Co. v. Brown-Bowens, 368 So. 3d 1277 (Miss. 2023). I represented a road construction contractor in a wrongful death lawsuit stemming from a one-car accident on a closed road. We persuaded the Mississippi Supreme Court to grant an interlocutory appeal and then to reverse the denial of summary judgment for our client.
Haynes v. Beckward, 358 So. 3d 1080 (Miss. Ct. App. 2023). After a jury verdict in the plaintiff’s favor in an auto-negligence action, I handled the appeal and won a remittitur based on insufficient expert testimony.
Estate of Ellis v. MMC Materials, Inc., 311 So. 3d 691 (Miss. Ct. App. 2021). I represented the defendant company in a personal injury case. We won summary judgment at the trial court and then secured that victory with an affirmance on appeal.

Tag: Paternity

Mississippi Court of Appeals Decisions of July 21, 2026

Mississippi Court of Appeals Decisions of October 7, 2025