The following factsheets aim to prevent the loss of land owned as heirs’ property in specific states. Each examines state laws that are relevant to heirs’ property owners, and outlines steps owners can take to resolve property issues before seeing an attorney.
Each factsheet also addresses relevant legal issues in a given state, including 1) how to identify legal heirs of the original ancestor who owned the land, 2) state partition law, 3) state law that permits the sale of land due to unpaid property taxes, and 4) state law addressing adverse possession and condemnation (terms defined in the glossary in each resource).
In addition to heirs’ property owners, these factsheets may be useful to professionals assisting heirs’ property owners, such as lawyers, nonprofit and community development advocates, and cooperative extension agents.