Who uses these forms
Mississippi's lien law prints three forms in Miss. Code § 85-7-433 [2]: the interim waiver and release upon payment in subsection (1), the waiver and release upon final payment in subsection (2), and the affidavit of nonpayment in subsection (3).
Both waiver forms are mandatory. Under § 85-7-419(2) and (3), a waiver and release a claimant is requested to execute in exchange for a payment, or to induce one, has to substantially follow the interim form for a payment other than final payment and the final form for final payment [2]. Each reaches liens on the described property and rights against any labor and/or material bond.
Under § 85-7-419(1), a right to claim a lien or upon a bond may not be waived in advance of furnishing labor, services or materials, and any purported waiver or release made that early is null, void and unenforceable [2].
What the statute says about them
An executed waiver and release binds the claimant for all purposes, subject only to payment in full of the amount it sets out [2]. Section 85-7-419(5)(b) then says the amount is conclusively deemed paid in full on the earliest of three events: actual receipt of funds; the claimant's execution of a separate written acknowledgment of payment in full; or 60 days [2] after the waiver and release is executed, unless before that period ends the claimant files an affidavit of nonpayment in the county where the property is located and sends a true and accurate copy to the owner in the manner § 85-7-405 provides for a notice of a claim of lien [2].
Filing that affidavit suspends the waiver and release until payment in full is received, except as § 85-7-413 provides [2].
Notarization is required. All three forms carry the same oath line, "SWORN TO AND SUBSCRIBED BEFORE ME", and a line for a notary public [2].
Reading the blanks
The three forms open alike, with blanks for the county, contractor, work furnished, project, owner and property.
The interim form adds a sum, a date through which the release runs, and an exception for rights and liens in retained amounts. The final form asks only for a sum. Both waiver forms print a NOTICE that the person who executes and submits the form is conclusively deemed paid in full the amount stated above, even without receiving the payment, "SIXTY (60) DAYS AFTER THE DATE STATED ABOVE UNLESS YOU FILE EITHER AN AFFIDAVIT OF NONPAYMENT OR A CLAIM OF LIEN BEFORE THE EXPIRATION OF THE SIXTY-DAY PERIOD" [2]. A blank completed incorrectly does not invalidate either waiver form if the subject matter of the release reasonably may be determined [2].
The affidavit of nonpayment gives the date of the waiver and release already executed and the amount in it, which it states has not been paid. Its closing paragraph has the filing party send the owner a copy within 2 days [2] of filing, by registered or certified mail or statutory overnight delivery.
Each form has lines for a signature, a printed name and title, the date and the notary. On the final payment form, that signature and notary block prints twice, before the NOTICE and after it.
What changed recently
Section 85-7-419 and the forms came from 2014 Senate Bill 2622 [1], Laws 2014, chapter 487, in force from its passage [2]. Section 85-7-433, which prints the forms, was amended by Laws 2015, chapter 348, effective July 1, 2015 [2].