Heirs' Property Challenges Families, States

Exploring the waterway marshes: Mount Pleasant, Charleston County, South Carolina. B. Childress, Wikimedia Commons

By Sarah Breitenbach, Stateline

In Mount Pleasant, a suburb of Charleston on the South Carolina coast, 72-year-old Richard Mazyck only recently acquired the title to the land on which he’s lived his entire life.

The land once belonged to Mazyck's father, and when he died it was passed down to Richard and his four sisters and brothers. But the elder Mazyck did not have a will, leaving his African- American descendants with what is known as heirs' property. Without a deed, the heirs are unable to develop the land and are at risk of losing it entirely.

This type of succession — property passed without a will — stems from the Reconstruction era, when African-Americans gained property rights. At that time, African-Americans often did not create wills to establish formal ownership for future generations because they were denied access to the legal system, did not trust it or could not afford it.

Across the country, states are identifying family properties passed down without deeds. Some of them are taking action to ensure that property owners can retain their land and its value.

Six states — Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Georgia, Montana and Nevada — have adopted versions of the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act, a draft bill being shopped to state legislatures by the nonprofit Uniform Law Commission to make it easier to divide property and preserve family wealth as the owners multiply over generations.

The problem with passing down property without a formal legal record is that any single owner can petition the court for a forced sale of the property. Over time, as the number of owners reaches into the dozens, the risk of a money grab increase and family members become targets for real estate developers looking to score property below market value in popular locations.

Mazyck and his siblings, whose land is not far from beach resorts, were able to evenly divide their 5 acres about three years ago with the assistance of the Center for Heirs' Property Preservation, a Charleston nonprofit that helps families to establish formal land ownership. With a proper deed, a family can leverage its equity and qualify for home improvement loans that were impossible to get with no official living owner.

"It's much easier now than before,” Mazyck said. “I can get anything I want now through the bank because everything is in my name. [My siblings] all are happy with it now because they’ve got something they can call their own."

Before they split up their property, Mazyck and his siblings were challenged by a property tax burden. Each having built or contributed to various structures on the land, the siblings had a hard time agreeing on how much of the tax each owed.

"[My father's] house was the only house on the land," Mazyck said. "He used to do a little bit of farming, but people started building on the land. Everybody had a section, but it wasn't in anybody’s name."

Having generations of landowners all entitled to the same tract of land challenges families whose co-owners may disagree on how or whether to preserve it, said Tish Lynn, resource development coordinator for the heirs' center.

A distant family member looking for some money, for instance, could try to force a sale contrary to the wishes of other family members. Developers eager to capitalize on attractive and profitable properties could buy a single share, become the newest member of the family, and try to force a sale.

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Heirs' Property Challenges Families, States

Before they split up their property, Mazyck and his siblings were challenged by a property tax burden. Each having built or contributed to various structures on the land, the siblings had a hard time agreeing on how much of the tax each owed.

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