Abstract
When people die without executing estate planning instruments, their real property is divided to their heirs as tenants in common. Property owned in this arrangement is called heirs’ property. The issues associated with heirs’ property are compounded when several generations pass without proper estate planning, and interest in the real property becomes highly fractionated. African Americans are more likely to die without wills, so the risks of heirs’ properties are disproportionally felt by people of color. One threat to heirs’ property arises when third parties buy out one heir’s share to force a partition sale. The Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act (UPHPA) provides procedural safeguards for these partition sales. This Note explains the history behind Black land ownership in America, the problems associated with heirs’ property, and the provisions and shortcomings of the UPHPA.
Recommended Citation
Cook, Ryan
(2022)
"Splitting Heirs: How Heirs' Property Continues the Legacy of Challenges to the Accumulation of Wealth for Black Americans,"
University of Florida Journal of Law & Public Policy: Vol. 32:
Iss.
3, Article 6.
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/jlpp/vol32/iss3/6