Podcasts about heirs property

Greg Phillips, co-founding partner of the Houston-based law firm Phillips Kaiser, joins the Soil Sisters to discuss the challenges of preserving family land. Greg's rural upbringing in East Texas and the difficulties faced by generational landowners inspired his commitment to helping those families with limited financial resources find solutions. This discussion dives into the challenges of succession planning, heirs' property issues, maintaining family land, and the newly launched East Texas Heirs Property Initiative. The conversation emphasizes the importance of keeping family land intact and out of the box thinking to build generational wealth.TIME STAMPS:00:00 Welcome to the Soil Sisters Podcast00:25 Meet Greg Phillips01:14 Greg's East Texas Roots03:53 The Importance of Succession Planning04:48 Greg's Journey into Land Ownership13:05 Alternative Land Uses and Opportunities20:09 The East Texas Heirs Property Initiative27:14 Land Utilization for Generational Wealth28:08 Innovative Land Use Programs29:45 Building Infrastructure for Landowners31:18 Nonprofit and Private Sector Collaboration34:47 Hemp Production and Industrial Uses44:02 Getting Involved and Next Steps 

We sit down with Federation Agriculture Council, John Allen Nichols, to discuss issue arising from passing on property to heirs with and without a will.Find out more about our sponsor, Alabama Ag Credit, and also about Alabama Farmers Federation.

https://nchousing.org/bonus-episode-he…-unlocked-part-2/

https://nchousing.org/heirs-property-l…d-interview-pt-1/

Disclaimer: We are not lawyers and are sharing personal experiences. For legal assistance with heirs property, please consult a lawyer.

Today on “Splitting Heirs,” host Warren Racusin speaks with Molefi McIntosh and Mavis Gragg about the “heirs' property problem--” or what happens to real estate when it is passed down within families without benefit of a will. The guests address the historical and legal impact as well as the economic and racial inequities that resulted from the fractionalization of real estate down through multiple generations, as well as recent efforts to right the injustices of the past through such legislation as the Uniform Partition of Heirs' Property Act, and new technology that leverages data to clear title. Speakers: Warren K. Racusin, Partner and Chair, Trusts & Estates Molefi McIntosh, Associate, Private Client Services Mavis Gragg, Co-Founder, HeirShares

Dominion Energy Senior Counsel Karla Carter joins Infrastructure Junkies to discuss the complicated history of heirs property issues.  What exactly is "heirs property"? What are the effects--both intended and unintended--on certain segments of the American population?  What are our obligations to heirs property in the right of way context?   When condemning agencies encounter parcels of property which were inherited by its currents owners--often passing intestate and without the benefit of a will--the easiest option is sometimes to simply proceed to condemnation.  Karla Carter explains why this has become an issue of social and environmental justice and how the abuse of partition suits has been utilized to deprive certain segments of the population of their land.  In fact, heirs property is the leading involuntary loss of African American property in the United States. Listen in and you will understand why heirs property is so much more than a land title issue. For more information on the subject, go to https://farmlandaccess.org/heirs-property/  This episode was generously sponsored by Pendulum Land Services, LLC.

In the United States, food insecurity is unevenly distributed. Recent data suggests that white households have nearly a third to one half the food insecurity rate of Black and Hispanic households. While research on the reasons for food insecurity typically focuses on income, a body of research suggests that wealth could be an important factor in food security. According to today's guest, Conner Bailey, professor emeritus of Rural Sociology at Auburn University: "Land is one of the major sources of wealth controlled by Black families in the South, and much of this land continues to be owned as heirs property." Thus, if we want to understand differential food and security, we need to consider that the wealth implications of heirs property. Interview Summary   Connor, recently, the topic of heirs property has attracted much attention from researchers, policymakers, and civil society. Can you briefly describe the phenomenon of heirs property and why you think it's important?   I think of heirs property as, in a phrase, "the legacy of Jim Crow." By that, what I mean is that during the Jim Crow era, imagine say 1880, you're 15 years after the end of the Civil War, and you're a Black farmer, and you've bought some land, are you going to write a will to pass that property down to your heirs? Probably not, because your access to education is pretty limited. Moreover, there are no Black lawyers because where are the Black lawyers going to come from if there's no education for Black people, right? That's the Jim Crow era. So, what's your choice? You're not going to go to the white lawyers for the courthouse gang that you simply don't trust. The whole legal system is something that Black farmers, and Black people generally, fundamentally did not trust. This is the era of lynching after all, when people would be pulled from their homes, and in front of the law, nobody would be able to say who perpetrated these crimes. It was a difficult time for African-Americans, for Black people, for Black farmers generally. They wouldn't write wills because they didn't trust the legal system. What we end up with is that family that bought land in 1880, and they pass on, and the next generation, and the next generation, they're still not writing wills. We know that many people don't have wills. I don't know, Norbert, if you have a will. I don't need to know, but the fact is, many people, white and Black alike, and Hispanic and others, in this country don't have wills. But when they die, they're able to sort things out before it passes on to the next generation and becomes increasingly complex and confused and tangled. That's not true in the case of African-Americans and some other politically marginalized populations, white people in Appalachia, Hispanics, Native Americans, Hawaiians. heirs property is not just a Black phenomenon in the South, though that's where my research and most research on heirs property has been.   What we end up with in the case of the Black South, heirs property is something that is multi-generational. It's not simply dying without a will intestacy, but it's the dying without a will over multiple generations so that you end up with maybe 200 people who own a house or a piece of property, farm, or some forest land. How do you make decisions in a situation like that on maintaining a house, or improving the farmland, or planting trees, or whatever it is you're going to do with that property? How are you going to go to a bank and say, "I want a mortgage"? They're going to say, "Well, how do we know who's got the rights to sign on a mortgage?" As a result, there's no access to commercial credit. Until very recently, and we can come back to this later, Black farmers had no access to government credit programs through the US Department of Agriculture. They could not get credit loans. If you were in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans and you were wiped out by hurricane Katrina, you had no access to FEMA support because you did not have clear title. Heirs property is a form legally called Tenancy in Common. That means you don't have clear title. Nobody has clear title. Everybody owns a share of the property as a whole. Now, one of the reasons it's important is it's not a small phenomenon.   Today, based on research that I've done with my colleague Ryan Thompson at Auburn University, there are in the 11 states of Appalachia and the South, 5.4 million acres of heirs property worth something like $43 billion. That's after enormous amounts of land have been lost through predatory actions. Legal but predatory partition sales, tax sales, and the like. Heirs property is a source of vulnerability. People have lost property in large areas. That whole stretch of coast of the South Atlantic, from Myrtle Beach down to Jacksonville, Florida, all that resort land, that was Black-owned land until after World War II. In the 1950s, once malaria was controlled in that area, bridges were built to the Sea Islands, developers followed, and properties were basically stolen through legal means, through something called a partition sale. Now you've got this enormous resorts being built there, much money being made, but these people who have lived there for generations have been dispossessed.   So, why is it important? It's for all these reasons, for these moral reasons, for the impact of the fact that you've still got millions of acres that's tied up in heirs property that people can't develop and utilize effectively for farming or forestry, or even for their own homes. It's one of the main reasons of wealth disparities, as you mentioned at the outset, Norbert. That the wealth disparities between white and Black are enormous. The St. Louis Fed just last month put out a study that showed that for every dollar of wealth that white Americans own, Black Americans own 24%. Black Americans own very much less wealth. Heirs property is one of the reasons. It's not the only reason, but it's one of the reasons, because lands have been stolen, lands have been lost, and those lands that still remain in heirs property, five-plus million acres just in the south of Appalachia, are underdeveloped, underutilized, and under-preserved.   Thank you for that. Connor, I want to ask you a question about trust. It's in the paper, and you mentioned it earlier, this idea of African-American, Black households, Black individuals not trusting the legal system. The reason I want to push on this is one could argue that trust could be because you may not know any better or you don't have enough information. We don't trust strangers because we just don't know what they could do. I'm wondering if another way of looking at this, something I've learned from people who do work on bioethics, Wylin Wilson here at Duke and others have talked about this, about the systems being untrustworthy. It's not that people aren't aware or can't navigate, but rather that the system or the institutions have proven not to do right by individuals. How does that characterization sit with the work that you've been doing?   Well, as I've been working on heirs property, as I have for 15, 16 years now, this phrase, "Black farmers, property owners generally did not trust the legal establishment, didn't trust lawyers, the courthouse gang," that's an easy statement to make. But as I started looking at the literature on heirs property, there wasn't a lot of background to that. I spent several months reading a bunch of older literature, W.E.B. DuBois, Arthur Raper, and others who were documenting what it meant to be Black in the rural south in the early decades of the 20th century. It's very clear to me that Black property owners and Black residents of that region as a whole had very good reasons not to trust the legal system. It was used against them in many cases. People simply avoided going to the courthouse whenever possible.   Now, this is an important point, and so thank you for exploring that with me. I've got to ask, I know you were at Auburn University and you're now retired. What led you to study heirs property and unearth its importance? Why are you still doing this work?   The second question is very easy to answer but also very important. There is a moral quality to the research that is done on heirs property. The work that I'm doing - and others, and I'm not the only one - the work that we are doing has a moral quality to it. We're trying to identify problems and redress wrongs. That's what gets me up in the morning. I mean, I'm seven, eight years, seven and a half years out from retirement. but I'm still publishing on this topic because it's important. Now, how did I come to realizing that? From a very good graduate student of mine named Janice Dyer, who was working in West Alabama on a different project, having nothing to do directly, we thought, at the time, on heirs property. The project was really on small scale wood harvesting and processing so that people could build homes using wood that's on the land that they owned. Janice came back after spending some time out in the field and said, "Hey, there's this thing, heirs property. People don't have clear title to their land." I said, "Oh, okay." I read a little bit about that, but she said, "No, no, this is a really important thing. Pay attention." Okay, Janice, I'm going to pay attention. And you know, here I am 16 years later. I'm still paying attention. One of the reasons professors get better at their jobs, and Norbert, you should appreciate this, is that we work with really bright students over time, and we gain so much from working with these students and undergraduates as well. So, I came to this because a graduate student pulled me into it and said, "Pay attention. This is important."   Thank you for that. I do agree there is something critical about engaging students to understand that topic. I want to actually take that a step further and because I know of some of the other work that you've done, how have you engaged communities in this work? Obviously, this is not an ivory tower kind of issue. This is something that affects the livelihoods of everyday people. How and in what ways are you engaging that community of folks?   I work with people in civil society organizations like the Center for Heirs Property Preservation in Charleston, South Carolina, created by a woman named Jenny Stephens back in the early, I think, 2004 or 2005, and other organizations that represent people who own heirs property. I've been working with people in the legal community through the Uniform Law Commission and all kinds of other groups. It's simply a matter of understanding that what we can do in the ivory tower is important because we can document the extent of heirs property, for example. That doesn't take working with communities, but we need to be working with people in communities affected by heirs property so that we understand the real significance of it and to keep the moral energies flowing. So, for example, my co-author on a couple of recent papers, Ryan Thomson at Auburn, he did his doctoral dissertation with the Gullah Geechee in South Carolina, which is near where Jenny Stephens in the Center for Heirs Property Preservation is located. Ryan worked actually far more closely with people who were heirs property owners and organized around that issue than I have done. But it's really important to understand from the people who are living the life of heirs property owners and who are facing the struggles to understand what are the issues so that as researchers, we can try to address those issues and try to come up with policy recommendations that might be helpful.   Thank you. One of your recent publications titled, "Heirs Property, Critical Race Theory, and Reparations," recently won the annual Rural Sociological Society's Best Paper of the Year award. First, congratulations, but secondly, can you explain your approach and your findings.   As I was saying earlier, I was looking at the question of trust, the trust of Black property owners and Black residents of the South to the legal system. As I was reading that literature, the idea of critical race theory simply emerged into my consciousness. I did not start off my reading saying, "Okay, I'm going to go look for evidence that's going to show critical race theory." Rather, it kind of emerged because critical race theory talks about the longstanding, deep institutional patterns of discrimination that are built into our legal system, our cultural system, our educational systems. They are so deeply ingrained that we often don't even recognize them, or we consciously, sometimes, ignore them. But there are discriminations built deeply into our systems sometimes that we don't recognize. What heirs property represents, as I said at the very outset, the legacy of Jim Crow. The legacy of Jim Crow is all these institutional limitations placed on Blacks in terms of access to education, legal services, and commercial loans, insurance for their properties, redlining in cities of where you could get government assistance or not. All these things are built in and are deeply embedded. Even though we have removed many of the outward mechanisms and trappings of racial discrimination, these patterns are still there. To speak of heirs property in terms of critical race theory simply made sense. It emerged the realization in my mind that this phenomenon of heirs property is rooted in these institutional relationships. It sort of hit me between the eyes with a two-by-four. It was like, wow, this is a perfect use of a theory to help explain a phenomenon. That's what academics, we should be pretty good at that, but that's what I've basically done. I don't think of myself as a theoretician, but the theories help us understand here are the key variables, the key phenomenon that we need to focus on if we're going to understand that particular phenomenon.   The question of reparations, which is the last term in that title, refers specifically to the Gullah Geechee, and I was talking about earlier, about that stretch of land. It's now billion dollar resorts. It's unrealistic to think that anybody's going to come and take that land away from Hilton and Sheraton, and all these major corporations, and give it back to the Gullah Geechee. That's just not realistic. But what if we charged a 1% lodging tax? There are already people coming and using those resorts who are already paying six and 7% on top of their bill for police and fire protection and things for the local counties and municipalities. What if we added 1% and gave that to the Gullah Geechee? There's a couple of entities, and I believe to others to make that decision. Who? But there's the Gullah Geechee Nation, and there's also a federally mandated Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor. It's a 501 organization. Monies from that could be utilized to support the Gullah Geechee in clearing title for their remaining heirs property or for buying new properties to replace those that have been stolen, legally, but still stolen. So, to support the subsistence fishing and farming activities that have supported the Gullah Geechee for many, many generations, stating back to the post-Civil War era.   Thank you for that. This is going to really move us into this last question that's connecting this idea of, and I appreciate how you talked about how theory can help us as researchers do the work that we do, but then there are implications of that theory to actual policy and the lived experiences of folks. My question is, how has the research that you and others have done on heirs property affected policy at the local state or even federal levels?   As I said, there's a large number of researchers and others working on heirs property. I want to give a shout out to a couple of organizations that have been really critically important. The Southern Rural Development Center based at Mississippi State has become a really important convener of a lot of us working in this heirs property space. We have regular monthly Zoom calls. We have subcommittees on research, on policy, and on education and extension that meet regularly. There's a policy center at Alcorn State University that has become very important in helping organize and support research on heirs property. There's the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta that has also served as a convener and bringing people together. So, we've got individuals. We've also got some really important institutional actors that are providing continuity for those of us who are wanting to find a mechanism to interact, but they're providing that mechanism. There's a lot of people working on the question of heirs properties becoming increasingly visible not only in the research space but also among policy makers. For example, in the 2018 Farm Bill, there was wording introduced and passed in the 2018 Farm Bill, that allowed heirs property owners who were farming land to gain access to what's called a farm number through the Farm Service Agency. The farm number is critical, because if you have a farm number, you can now get a loan from USDA. Before that, heirs property owners could not. Basically, farmers operating heirs property now for the first time have access to credit through the USDA. That's a very important step forward. It actually came from a South Carolina Republican Senator Scott, and an Alabama Democrat Doug Jones, who worked up the wording on this, and it got later placed into the Farm Bill.   The other thing that's happened is that FEMA, I mentioned Katrina earlier, FEMA has revised their policies so that now, if you can prove you've lived in that home, you've lived on that property, you've paid property taxes, you've got maybe home insurance or whatever, if your property is damaged, destroyed in a natural disaster, a storm, FEMA will now help you. But 10 years ago, that was not the case. This happened only in the last couple of years. The point is, people have started to pay attention to heirs property. I've got to say people working in the media like Politico and The Atlantic and the New York Times, and The Washington Post, they've picked up on this. They've called researchers. They've called people like me and colleague Ryan, and they've gotten the facts from us, and they've developed it. They've gone and interviewed people, and they've developed the stories. And the media has also drawn a lot of attention to the issues associated with heirs property. It's been kind of a full-court press. We've all been moving forward on this.     Bio   Conner Bailey is an emeritus professor of the Department of Agricultural and Rural Sociology in the College of Agriculture at Auburn University. He holds a Ph.D. in development sociology from Cornell University. His research has focused on the problems of persistent poverty associated with resource dependence, the emergency of grassroots environmental movement surrounding issues of environmental and natural resource management, issues of environmental justice, and the human dimensions of fisheries and coastal resource systems. Bailey has been working on the issues of heirs property for more than 20 years. His publication "Heirs Property, Critical Race Theory, and Reparations," recently won the annual Rural Sociological Society's Best Paper of the Year award.

We talk about Heirs' Property a lot and how to find the heirs' and clear the title. But, what about what's next? There are several ways that the land can start to take care of itself and becoma an asset versus a liability. Here are some ideas and options that you can start today to have the land making enough money to pay for itself and create generational wealth.

Heirs property, or property whose ownership is not clear, is a problem regionally and nationally. The Atlanta Fed's Sarah Stein, an adviser in the Community and Economic Development group, joins the Economy Matters podcast to discuss heirs property and ways to mitigate its economic effects.

February 9, 2023 Everything Co-op continues it's celebration of Black History Month with an interview of Jennie L. Stephens Ph.D., CEO at the Center for Heirs' Property Preservation. Vernon and Dr. Stephens discuss how the Center provides legal education and direct legal services to help families obtain clear title to family land and learn how to make the land work for them, instead of working for the land. Dr. Jennie L. Stephens has been the Executive Director of the Center for Heirs' Property Preservation since its inception in 2005. At the Center, she is responsible for overall strategic planning, revenue generation, financial & staff management, and program operations. Dr. Stephens has dedicated more than 25 years in the non-profit industry and is very passionate about building relationships with people who have experienced a history of abuse when it comes to their land and their rights. Jennie holds a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the College of Charleston, a master's degree in Public Administration from the University of Charleston/University of South Carolina, and a PhD in Organizational Leadership from Regent University. The theme for Black History month 2023 is Black Resistance. The theme explores how “African Americans have resisted historic and ongoing oppression, in all forms, especially the racial terrorism of lynching, racial profiling, and police killings.” As societal and political forces escalate to limit access to and exercise of the ballot, eliminate the teaching of Black history, and work to push us back into the 1890s, we can only rely on our capacity to resist. Asalh (Association for the Study of African American American Life and History), and the organization that provides the Black History month themes, has issued a call to everyone, inside and outside the academy, to study the history of Black Americans' responses to establish safe spaces, where Black life can be sustained, fortified, and respected.

The Heirs Property issue is at a critical point in the Gullah Geechee community. The question is often asked how land can be sold from under someone even if they're living on the property. Join me in a fascinating conversation with Pastor Robin Dease who not only has heirs' property, but has also studied it, as well as worked to resolve it with members of  her former congregation on John's Island, South Carolina.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Heirs Property issue is at a critical point in the Gullah Geechee community. The question is often asked how land can be sold from under someone even if they're living on the property. Join me in a fascinating conversation with Pastor Robin Dease who not only has heirs' property, but has also studied it, as well as worked to resolve it with members of  her former congregation on John's Island, South Carolina.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today's episode is a continuation of last week's episode. We are joined by Veronica McClendon, also known as the Family Land Lawyer. Veronica is an attorney who helps families put the proper legal documents in place so that they can enjoy the full benefits of property ownership and leave an inheritance for their descendants.  She has a passion for strengthening families, restoring communities, and helping people to build legacies through her firm, McClendon Law and Consulting. Connect with Veronica McClendon: Website: www.mcclendonlawoffice.com Facebook: McClendon Law and Consulting   Check out the SR Law group:   Website: https://www.srlawgrp.com/

We check in with the University of Mississippi Medical Center, post-vaccine mandate.And, a conversation on Black involuntary land loss.This is an abridged show produced to accommodate MPB's fall fundraising drive. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

You might be owning property that you don't even know exists! Over time, many heirs discover ownership when a relative dies and their death presents problems that no one knows how to solve. These problems result from the passage of decades when a parent, grandparent and great-grandparent simply “passed” down a property to their children, grandchildren and their descendants…so forth and so on. In today's episode, we are joined by Veronica McClendon, also known as the Family Land Lawyer. Veronica is an attorney who helps families put the proper legal documents in place so that they can enjoy the full benefits of property ownership and leave an inheritance for their descendants.  She has a passion for strengthening families, restoring communities, and helping people to build legacies through her firm, McClendon Law and Consulting. Tune in to learn more about: How Veronica got into doing the type of work she does. How to get out of complications associated with heirs' property. Finding a profitable use for heirs property. Why you should involve professionals when dealing with heirs property issues. … and so much more! Connect with Veronica McClendon: Website: www.mcclendonlawoffice.com Facebook: McClendon Law and Consulting   Check out the SR Law group:   Website: https://www.srlawgrp.com/

Heirs Property is a term few of us have heard of. It is family held land that is passed down without a will or if a Will is available, without specifically naming a beneficiary who will inherit the land. Commercial speculators can then take advantage of the family by convincing an heir to sell his or small interest in the land. Dr. Sandra Thompson walks us through this process and highlights steps being taken to help prevent Black families being forced to sell their family held land.

Annie Ruth Jones is a three-generation landowner and has successfully used her land to plant and sell trees. Her grandparents bought the land she is currently standing on in 1935 and she is very proud that she has kept the family legacy alive all these years later. She also credits the Center of Heirs Property for helping guide her to find the right resources to make a living out of her land. Find out more about Annie and her property in this week's episode!   Key Takeaways: [2:15] Annie shares a little bit about her land and her family. [4:25] Annie shares her family tree and how she came to inherit her property. [9:25] Annie's father stressed the importance that everyone in his family finish high school. [11:00] Annie talks about her father and what kind of man he is. [12:00] Hold on to the land because they're not making any more of it. [13:40] A quick introduction to Kenneth Dunn and what he does for the Center of Heirs Property. [17:45] Annie cannot stand the tree frogs! [24:00] Annie does a tour of her property and talks about why she loves a particular tree. [27:45] As a black family, trying to hold onto property is very expensive. This is why Annie loves resources provided by Kenneth Dunn and others. [31:05] Annie made a promise to herself that she would not sell her land. [32:55] Annie feels so blessed to have been able to keep the property in her family name thus far. [34:15] It's up to the younger generation now to see if they want to keep up tree farming. [34:40] Kenneth explains some of the challenges African-American landowners have when it comes to keeping their land. [38:20] Without Heirs Property help, landowners really can get taken advantage of. [41:25] Annie shares how the family makes a decision together when it comes to their property. [42:50] What do you need to do to become a certified tree farmer?   Mentioned in This Episode: Sctreefarm.org State.sc.us Scforestry.org Heirsproperty.org Kenneth on LinkedIn

This week Rebecca and Alan talk about the two-week special session of the General Assembly, and we learn about heirs property from Jennie Stephens, the Chief Executive Officer of the Center for Heirs Property Preservation. Public Concern is the weekly podcast from the South Carolina Conservation Coalition. The name of our podcast comes from Article 12 of the South Carolina Constitution, which is all about the functions of government: “The health, welfare, and safety of the lives and property of the people of this State...and the conservation of its natural resources are matters of public concern.” Subscribe, and send any questions you'd like for us to discuss at publicconcernpodcast@gmail.com. You can find out more at publicconcernpodcast.org.Center for Heirs Property Preservation Commentary: We can’t let Charleston County destroy the Phillips communityMusic:Beauty Flow by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5025-beauty-flowLicense: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Father and son discuss the "Southern Experience" as they visit the historic downtown of Beaufort, SC. Also discussed: gentrification, Heirs Property, and the tearing down of confederate monuments

Sharon Ponton is the Stop the Pipelines Campaign Coordinator with us at BREDL and then George Jones is a student at Paine College studying History and is an intern with BREDL. Heird Properties are when, deeds were written where entire families, including children, owned properties and then the owner(s) died without a will, therefore, hundreds of their descendants today could own the property in common...meaning no one person has the ability to make decisions regarding the property. This puts all of the owners-in-common at risk of abuse by the industry which wants to condemn the property. I start by talking with Sharon about her work and courthouse research of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline easement documents recorded in Buckingham County, VA which led them to the heired properties. We also discuss the significance of heird properties and injustices which have led to these them. Then I speak with George about his personal experience learning that he owned heired property and getting to talk with his relatives in Georgia this past summer and also on getting his peers at Paine College involved and aware of heird property Contact and connect with Sharon and George: ponton913@msn.com and georgejones3rd@icloud.com Learn more about Heired Properties: https://www.americanbar.org/groups/state_local_government/publications/state_local_law_news/2016-17/fall/restoring_hope_heirs_property_owners_uniform_partition_heirs_property_act/ https://www.thebalance.com/what-does-heir-at-law-mean-3505555 Heired Properties and the Atlantic Coast Pipeline: https://friendsofnelson.com/bredl-releases-report-on-union-hill/ http://www.bredl.org/safeguard_americas_resources/200407_ACP_Invasion_during_Pandemic.htm https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article185036078.html Heired Property information in Georgia: https://www.gaheirsproperty.org/heirs-property http://digital.ipcprintservices.com/article/A_Primer_on_Heirs_Property_and_Georgia%E2%80%99s_New_Uniform_Partition_of_Heirs_Property_Act%3A_Protecting_Owners_of_Heirs_Property/1528545/178482/article.html Keep up to date with what's happening at BREDL: http://www.bredl.org/safeguard_americas_resources/index.htm Background Music Credits: https://www.youtube.com/c/mbbmusic https://soundcloud.com/mbbofficial https://www.instagram.com/mbb_music

Public pressure on lawmakers is growing across the country to reduce gun violence, but Congress may only be able to pass incremental legislation, explains CQ Roll Call’s legal affairs writer Todd Ruger. In the second segment of this podcast, we explore how Congress and a South Carolina center are trying to address the loss of land and wealth, particularly among African Americans, in what is commonly referred to as Heirs Property. Josh Walden of the Center for Heirs’ Property Preservation in South Carolina discusses how thousands of acres of land, from the south to Appalachia, may be in dispute because of the lack of legal records. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Yvonne Knight-Carter and Eleanor Cooper-Brown are both sisters and the owners of Broadaxe Branch Partners. Their property goes back almost 150 years and they are proud to be connected to the land once again. Both successful in their respective careers, Yvonne and Eleanor are taking on the task to make their land sustainable and to help educate the community about the free land management resources that are available to them. Do not be afraid to go into the USDA's office to ask for what you need!   Key Takeaways: [1:40] A message from Leadership Nature. [2:20] A quick intro about Yvonne's and Eleanor's background. [6:00] Yvonne shares her journey and how she found her family land. [13:45] Vconne and Eleanor's family farm was visited by the Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack. [17:15] Eleanor shares her journey and how she found her family land. [24:05] Yvonne shares a bit more of the history of the land. [35:35] The sisters have such an emotional tie to the land. [37:00] When did Yvonne and Eleanor get their first forest management plan? [38:25] Did the sisters have any challenges with transferring the title into their names? [41:00] The Center of Heirs Property has free will-creation services for community members. [45:00] What advice do Yvonne and Eleanor have for other landowners? [55:50] How has their purpose in life changed since taking on this property? [1:00:00] Eleanor is very proud to call this property home and wants to pass it down for their children.   Mentioned in This Episode: Website for the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities: Usendowment.org More information on the SFLR Program: Sustainable Forestry and African American Land Retention Program (SFLR) More information on USDA NRCS: Nrcs.usda.gov Heirsproperty.org

When parents, grand parents, or other ancestors leave land to their family they also leave legal problems.Guest attorney Vangela Wade answers listeners' questions and explains the problem and provides suggestions about Heir Property on this broadcast. https://www.wadelawfirmpllc.com/More Information about Heir Property: https://www.fsa.usda.gov/Internet/FSA_File/whatyouneedtoknowheirproperty.pdfMs. Wade is hosting a free seminar open to the public on the topic of Heirs Property. Register by May 11th, 2019 for the May 16th, 2019 event. https://www.wadelawfirmpllc.com/Register/Local Attorney Helps Jackson Citizens Secure Generations Of Land OwnershipFree Heirs’ Property Seminar on May 16th with Special Guest Experts that Include State Rep. Robert L. Johnson, III and Hinds County Chancery Clerk, Eddie Jean Carr Attorney Vangela M. Wade is inviting the Metro Jackson, Mississippi community to her Free Heirs’ Property Seminar on May 16, 2019, 9am - 11am, at The Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. Key information will be shared in regard to protecting land and ensuring a family’s land ownership legacy.“Heirs’ Property refers to real property that passes from one person to another upon each person's death,” says Attorney Vangela M. Wade, President of The Wade Law Firm. “In most cases, without a Will or other legal instrument transferring ownership to that person's heirs, each heir then has an undivided interest in that property. Over time, this method of inheritance can lead to lack of ‘clear title’ and has the potential of diminishing the value of the property.” A lack of "clear title" makes property less marketable for sale or lease, can interfere with securing loans, grants and government assistance, and is the leading cause of black involuntary land loss.This FREE seminar, led by Attorney Wade, with special guests State Rep. Robert L. Johnson, III and Hinds County Chancery Clerk, Eddie Jean Carr, will explain the nuances of heir property such as titling, lack of marketable title, and loss of ownership in treasured family land and property.Registration for this FREE seminar is open to the public, however, seating is limited. To secure your seat, you must register with The Wade Law Firm before May 11th by calling 601-856-9967 or online at https://wadelawfirmheirpropertyseminar.eventbrite.com. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week on Lewis on the Law, James takes you on a deep-dive into one of his own cases as he helps a southern family untangle a complex heirs property issue. www.thehickspreserve.org

Thomas Mitchell is a Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Real Estate and Community Development Law Program at Texas A&M University. An amazing thing has happened in modern history and that's the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act. Thomas has been working for over 15 years to get a real estate partitions law updated with regards to heirs property. For decades, rightful landowners have lost their land due to unfair practices, but that has all changed now. Find out more on today's episode.   Key Takeaways: [1:40] A message from Leadership Nature. [2:25] A quick intro about Thomas's background. [3:40] How did Thomas first get started in land retention and land rights? [8:55] What was the process Thomas went through to change the direction of what law he wanted to practice in? [11:55] When Thomas described to his colleague what he wanted to do, his colleague said it was career suicide. [13:25] Thomas is so glad he didn't listen to him because he knows he made the right decision. [16:00] What kinds of issues do people face with heirs' properties? [24:25] When people have inherited property over the generations, a lot of times the property lacks clear ownership titles and that ends up creating a murky lens for the courts on who owns what. [28:00] Real estate developers will often contact a distant relative that owns possibly 1% of the land and try to convince them to do a partition by sale agreement, and by doing this, heirs can lose their entire share. [30:40] On top of this, the courts are using the wrong analysis to determine the worth of the land. [38:10] What has the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act has accomplished? [43:55] When Thomas received word his proposal was being selected, he almost fell out of his chair! [47:25] What parts of the partition law will be changed due to this act? [55:20] Many Americans do not make wills for their family. For African American families specifically, only 15% of them have a will. [1:03:40] What results has Thomas seen so far? [1:10:50] Thomas did not do this alone! He credits the network of people who have helped make this possible.   Mentioned in This Episode: Law.tamu.edu Thomas on LinkedIn

James welcomes Joann Johnston and Gentry Mander to the show to discuss the ins and outs of heirs property law. https://www.gaheirsproperty.org

Joann Johnston/Georgia Heirs Property Law Center Joann Johnston is the Legal programs Director with the Georgia Heirs Property Law Center. She spent 10 years working for large Atlanta law firms as a civil litigator. Joann represented clients in complex multi-state litigation and appeals involving title disputes, lender liability defense, federal and state regulatory compliance and unfair […] The post Inherited Property – Resolving Tangled Title appeared first on Business RadioX ®.

Mavis Gragg graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill and Pepperdine School of Law and also has her own law practice, Gragg Law Firm. At her firm, she helps individuals and families maintain and grow their wealth. Her expertise is in estate planning, estate administration, and heirs property. Mavis shares what a lot of prominent black families have to go through when it comes to heirs property, things programs and universities can do to attract more diversity, and her personal experiences as a woman of color that works one-on-one with foresters. Key Takeaways: [:55] A message from Leadership Nature. [1:35] A quick intro about Mavis's background. [3:50] How did Mavis get into forestry? [6:35] Mavis explains what ‘Heirs Property' truly means. [7:55] What types of clients does Mavis typically work with? [9:30] How does land loss and loss of ownership rights happen? [12:20] Mavis shares an example of how land loss can impact African American families. [16:15] When did land loss really start to become addressed as a problem? [21:10] How does Mavis find her clients and educate the general public about the work that she does? [23:15] What's the most fun/rewarding aspects about this job? [26:15] What career advice would Mavis give about natural resources? [30:45] Over the years, what has Mavis learned about leadership? [34:15] Life does gets busy, but do not neglect yourself. Mavis emphasizes why it's important to practice self-care. [34:55] What kind of mentors has Mavis had over the years? [39:45] Mavis shares some of her personal experiences of being in the workforce as a woman of color. [41:30] People of color have a strong distrust towards the legal profession, even if the professional is someone of color. [45:25] Mavis shares what's it like working with foresters and other professionals in this field. [48:25] What can the profession as a whole do to better attract people of color into the industry? [56:50] Find out who the leaders of your community are and connect with them. Mentioned in This Episode: Manrrs.org Gragglawfirm.com How Not to Save the World by Jessica Yinka Thomas

Tune in to Gullah/Geechee Riddim Radio to hear about the #4DennisMovement to save Gullah/Geechee heirs property.  Tune in to learn about the continuing battle on Hilton Head Island as Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation (www.QueenQuet.com) interviews descendants of Dennis Allen as they set out in support of a new bill to protect heirs property.   This episode will not only be in celebration of "Women's Herstory Month," but also in honor of "Gullah/Geechee Volunteer Month" and the "Gullah/Geechee Land & Legacy World Tour" as we call on our listeners to play an active part in the petition campaign to get the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act passed throughout the Gullah/Geechee Nation's states.  This will truly honor the legacy of the Gullah/Geechee ancestors that fought to hold on to this land for the generations that would come later. Tune een ta we sho-Gullah/Geechee Riddim Radio! www.gullahgeechee.net www.gullahgeecheenation.com

Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation (www.QueenQuet.com) is the hostess of Gullah/Geechee Riddim Radio on behalf of the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition (www.gullahgeechee.net).  On this broadcast, she will be joined by Attorney Willie Heyward of the Heirs Property Law Center (www.heirspropertylawcenter.org) and Attorney and author, H. Anderson Jones.  The three will discuss how Gullah/Geechees and other people of African descent in the south came to own land and the mechanisms that they can utilize to retain what has now become "heirs property."  Tune een fa yeddi we sho-Gullah/Geechee Riddim Radio! www.gullahgeecheenation.com

Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation (www.QueenQuet.com) is the hostess for "Gullah/Geechee Riddim Radio" on behalf of the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition (www.gullahgeechee.net).  She and the Coalition have been dedicated to the continuation of Gullah/Geechee land ownership and to reclamation since the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition begain in 1996.  On this episode, Queen Quet will get into the current issues that Gullah/Geechees are faced with in order to protect this land legacy.  She will also discuss the history and meaning of "heirs property." Yeddi we sho-Gullah/Geechee Riddim Radio!