Heirship and Land Loss
Property that is passed down through generations and shared by relatives is called heirship, commonly referred to as heirs’ property. This is because property passed down in this manner (intestate) is done so without the benefits of a will. Without a will designating to whom the property belongs, all blood relatives become heirs; i.e. they all own equal share of the property. Land ownerships held by an assortment of heirs can be tricky to navigate. Without proof of transfer (a clear title), it is often difficult to determine who the actual owners are, especially if the deeds remain in the deceased person(s) name(s). When someone dies Intestate, it becomes necessary for the legal system (Courts) to appoint an Administrator to manage the property of the deceased person. This can be a costly, complicated and time consuming process. State intestate laws — not your wishes— determine how your assets are going to be distributed, who cares for your minor children and how your debts are settled.
John Henry Fountain died intestate. Without a doubt, this complicated the safe and legal transfer of his property. Tacitly, it signaled to rogue speculators and predatory developers that his rather sizable estate was vulnerable to dispossession loopholes; which, transactionally, meant easy prey for scams and frauds. My early research is showing that this might have been the case.
Another snafu unique to heirs property owners is the property’s propensity for partition sales; a practice that allows any heir to bring a lawsuit to legally terminate the heirship. While some may find it advantageous, this practice is the part of my “Research and Recovery” findings that has troubled me the most because it allows heirs to sell their individual holdings in the property without the consent or knowledge of the other heirs. This means that my father’s siblings (who are all deceased now), or the sibling’s children, could have sold (or lost) their property ownership and never told anyone. If this did happen, it could possibly be the inlet to the loopholes that ultimately may have resulted in the involuntary loss of their land.
Because of the duplicitous nature of partition sales, “the U.S. Department of Agriculture has recognized this practice as being the leading cause of Black involuntary land loss.”