M om and Dad worked the farm for many years. But then they died, failing to leave a will, so the farm was left to all the children. Years go by. Some of the children die, meaning their pieces of the farm transfer to grandchildren or great-grandchildren of the original owners. Did anyone pay the property taxes this year or last year – or at all — since the mother and father passed away?
Not only is it all a legal mess, but it turns into a way for the unscrupulous to take advantage of the family and take the land, sometimes for much less than it’s worth or maybe for just the back taxes.
There is help.
As a recent article in The Commercial said: “‘Heirs property’ situations can result in economic and property loss, and families that find themselves in such situations need to know what methods are available to resolve it.”
The problem has its roots in the fact that there’s no will, meaning the owners died intestate. When that happens, land transfers to all the heirs, each of whom have undivided interests in the whole property.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“So, imagine a situation where you have 12 or 50 or 100 people, and they all have the right to occupy the entire property,” said Jesse Richardson, professor of law and lead land use attorney at West Virginia University College of Law. “That’s a problem, and just one of the many problems that comes along with heirs property.”
In another story in the paper, written earlier this year, it was noted that the U.S. Department of Agriculture officials had announced a $145 million investment from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act with the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff’s receiving nearly $1.5 million. The money will go to the Center for Heirs’ Property Preservation “to partner with UAPB to provide landowners in Arkansas with education and technical assistance to address heirs’ property issues and forestry-focused technical assistance.”
In yet another story, a person is using her experience from working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency to help Black farmers keep their land for future generations.
The person is “working with the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Small Farm Program to reverse the trend of land loss among Black farmers because of complications related to land being designated as heirs’ property,” stated the story.
Such situations, they said, are the leading reason that land owned by Black property owners is involuntarily lost.
To exacerbate the problem, any one owner can take the matter to court and force the others to sell.
“These ‘partition sales’ often occur against the wishes of other family members,” the person said., “The result is often a sale that does not meet fair market value and may result in the dispossession of family members from their inherited land.”
On a positive note, Arkansas is one of 17 states that passed the Uniform Partition of Heirs’ Property Act, which helps families protect their property rights by allowing the other property owners to buy out the person who is wanting to sell the land.
The fact that many people don’t know the ins and outs of such legal maneuvering is what the UAPB Small Farm Program is combating. So if you’re in such a spot or know those who are, there is assistance. Give the program folks a call. It’s what they are there for.