Heirs’ Property 101

The first step of addressing widespread vacancy is identifying the types of vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated (VAD) properties that exist in the community. One of the more challenging property types to address is “heirs’ property.” Heirs’ property occurs when a property owner dies without a will, passing a property to multiple descendants, or heirs.

Addressing heirs’ property—also referred to as tangled title, family property, or family land—is complicated. Resolving tangled title requires tracking down all living heirs and specialized legal expertise. Some heirs may have no interest in caring for the property. Distant heirs may not even know they own a share. In the meantime, tangled title limits access to property maintenance resources. As a result, heirs’ properties can fall into serious disrepair and sit abandoned for decades, harming neighborhood stability.

In this webinar, the Center for Community Progress will discuss how these issues intersect with efforts to address VAD properties and how to address heirs’ property issues.

Join this webinar to:

• Learn why fractional, unrecorded ownership sets properties on the path to deterioration and abandonment
• Understand the tools that state and local governments have at their disposal to address vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated heirs’ property
• Hear examples of effective work that local governments and their community partners have done to address heirs’ property and maintain community stability

Speakers:

• Matt Kreis — General Counsel, Center for Community Progress