Heir Property Conference: Evolving Challenges, Tactics and Strategies   

When a property owner dies without a will, known as dying “intestate,” their property becomes “heir property.” State law determines exactly how the property will be passed down to their next of kin (such as spouse, children, siblings, or parents) but generally, all heirs hold a share of the title. When interests transfer in this way, the number of legal owners grows exponentially with each passing generation.

As an insecure form of land tenure, heir property has a profound impact on housing, income equality, social mobility, family and community stability, good land management, and effective climate mitigation and adaptation practices. When an heir wants to sell their portion of land, they may force a partition, meaning the entire property will be sold—even against the wishes of other heirs who may be living there. Heir property is also vulnerable even without such sales. For example, heir property owners are at higher risk of losing their land to property tax foreclosure because all the heirs might not be able or willing to pay their share of property taxes. They can also lose their homes if they receive a code violation notice and fail to bring the property up to code. Heir property owners are also more likely to be denied access to FEMA Emergency Disaster Funds or FEMA Buyback programs.

Heir property was first studied as a reason why Black families lost land in the rural South, as well as elsewhere. Recent research has shown that similar insecure land tenure has taken forms such as colonias in Texas and is prevalent on Native American lands and in cities across America.

This invite-only conference will bring together academics, government officials, practitioners, and community leaders to share their most recent insights on the evolving challenges of heir property, and to brainstorm strategies and tactics that will empower families and communities to preserve land, wealth, culture, and history in this age of climate and economic uncertainties.