Heir property

Heir property is a legal term in the United States for land that is owned by two or more people, usually people with a common ancestor who has died without leaving a will (intestate). It is the leading cause of involuntary land loss among African Americans but also affects Latinx communities in the Southwest, Indigenous communities on reservations, and white communities in Appalachia.[1][2]

Background

Heirs' property is property passed through family members by inheritance, often without a will or estate plan in place.[2] Often, heir property is land owned by African Americans who either purchased or were deeded land after the American Civil War.[3][4] When the land owner died, rather than using the formal system of taking a will and testament to the probate courts to ensure that the land was passed down to the landowners' children, the property was handed down informally. In this system, the land is held in common.[5] After several generations, it can be difficult to determine who the legal owners are, and the legal owners might not have paid their share of taxes, lived on the land, or helped maintain it.[5] African Americans were more likely to let land become heirs’ property due to a lack of access to government services and a distrust of the legal system during periods of systemic discrimination against African-Americans.[1]

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, since 1910, the heir property system has been responsible for African Americans landowners losing 80% of the farming land owned by previous generations.[5][6]

Within the Southern United States, about a third of the land owned by African Americans, amounting to about 3.5 million acres, is held in the heirs property system.[1] Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Texas, North Carolina, Virginia, Florida, and Louisiana are the states most affected by the confusion of heirs' property.[5]

The lack of clear title to their ancestors' land has ongoing consequences for the owners, even when the land remains in their possession.[1] The farms do not qualify for some government support programs, including disaster relief funds.[1] The owners are unable to claim the land as an asset for the purpose of obtaining loans.[1]

Heirs' property owners have also historically been excluded from federal disaster aid. [7] In 2021, the Federal Emergency Management Agency reversed a policy that had prevented Black families in the Deep South from getting help rebuilding after disasters. [8]

As of April 2021, 17 states have passed laws restricting the abuse of the system, for example prohibiting minority owners of such land from forcing a sale.[9]

References
  1. Presser, Lizzie (2019-07-15). "Their Family Bought Land One Generation After Slavery. The Reels Brothers Spent Eight Years in Jail for Refusing to Leave It". ProPublica. Retrieved 2019-07-19.
  2. "Heirs' Property - Farmland Access Legal Toolkit". farmlandaccess.org. 2021-02-08. Retrieved 2021-11-12.
  3. "Developers step aside; Slave descendants save old property | The Herald". heraldonline.com. Archived from the original on 2015-10-06. Retrieved 2015-10-06.
  4. "Local nonprofit helping Gullah Geechee families reclaim property | Bluffton Today". blufftontoday.com. Archived from the original on 2015-07-16. Retrieved 2015-10-06.
  5. "What You Need To Know About Heir Property" (PDF). USDA.
  6. Clark, Leilani (2018-07-09). "Black Churches, Powerful Cultural Forces, Set Their Sights on Food Security". Civil Eats. Retrieved 2019-07-19.
  7. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/07/11/fema-black-owned-property/
  8. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/09/02/fema-policy-change/
  9. "How Jacob Loud's Land Was Lost : Planet Money". NPR.org. Retrieved 2021-04-08.
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