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Mississippi lien waiver requirements
Mississippi is one of the few states where lien waivers must be sworn before a notary. No notary, no enforceable waiver.
Miss. Code § 85-7-433 (statutory forms) and §85-7-419 (waiver and release)
The short version
Mississippi sits in the small club of states that mandate notarization on lien waivers. Section 85-7-433 lays out the statutory forms, and §85-7-419 governs the waiver and release. Both require the document to be signed in front of a notary public. The state borrowed heavily from Georgia's approach, including the interim and final waiver structure. Skip the notary and you have a piece of paper with no statutory effect. Build the notary step into your collection workflow before the project starts.
At a glance
- Miss. Code §85-7-433: statutory waiver and release forms
- Notarization is required for the waiver to be enforceable
- Interim waiver and release upon payment, plus final upon final payment
- Advance waivers before work begins are void
Notarization is mandatory
Mississippi requires a lien waiver to be sworn to and signed before a notary public. The notary stamp is not a formality. Without it the document carries no statutory weight under §85-7-433.
Most GCs handle this by sending the waiver to subs who already have a notary on staff, or by using an online notary service tied to the e-sign workflow. Either way, the AP step is not done when the sub signs. It is done when the notary stamps.
The statutory forms in §85-7-433
Section 85-7-433 sets out the interim waiver and release upon payment, and the waiver and release upon final payment. The language is fixed. Substitute your own template and you lose the statutory protection of the form.
Each form includes the project, the through-date, and the amount. The interim form runs during the project. The final form closes out the contract. Both must be notarized to count.
Advance waivers and the 60-day window
Mississippi voids any attempt to waive lien rights before work is furnished. The waiver has to follow the labor or materials, not precede them.
If a sub signs a waiver before being paid, the sub can preserve the lien right by filing a notice of nonpayment within 60 days. Train your AP team to release the matching payment well inside that window, or the waiver still holds.
Questions
Do Mississippi lien waivers need to be notarized?
Yes. Miss. Code §85-7-433 requires the waiver to be sworn before a notary public to be enforceable.
Can a Mississippi sub waive lien rights before starting work?
No. Advance waivers, before labor or materials are furnished, are void under Mississippi law.
What happens if payment is delayed after a Mississippi waiver is signed?
The claimant can preserve lien rights by filing a notice of nonpayment within 60 days of executing the waiver.
Send a Mississippi waiver in two minutes.
The right form, the right notice, signed on a phone. Released when the check clears.
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