Center for Heirs' Property Preservation

Center for Heirs' Property Preservation-060022

Abstract Number: 060022

July 2006

The Center for Heirs' Property Preservation (the Center) seeks to preserve heirs' property and history while promoting equitable growth throughout the low country. The Center accomplishes this mission by providing educational and legal services to (1) low-income heirs property owners, (2) nonprofit organizations serving heirs' property owners, (3) attorneys defending and judges adjudicating heirs property cases, and (4) the community at large in Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Dorchester and Georgetown counties in South Carolina. Also, the Center is beginning to work with neighborhood and community leaders regarding local planning and development efforts.

The Center targets heirs who inherited land and are potentially threatened with losing it due to the fact that the property passed by intestate succession rather than under a will. Heirs' property rights are vulnerable due to the potential for conflict among multiple heirs and the likelihood that such a conflict would result in a loss of the land. Under South Carolina law, land that passes by intestate succession (i.e., without a will) is legally owned by all the descendants in common. Any heir, regardless of his/her interest, can request that the land be partitioned and this request typically results in the land being sold at auction and the proceeds are then divided up among the living heirs. This legal vulnerability has resulted in the loss of many family estates, and in particular, has affected the African-American community living in coastal South Carolina.

This Center's goal is to ensure that heirs receive and exercise the full rights associated with property ownership. Among participants in this program, it is common for the original land holder to have verbally specified the heir who should receive the real property. Often the subsequent land holders have the misconception that paying taxes on the land, having received a verbal expression of inheritance, and having actual possession of the land equal a clear title, which is not the case. Consequently, community education is the main thrust of the Center as staff provides information to owners about alternative ways to attain a clear property title. In addition to community education, full representation of heirs is provided by attorneys from the participating organizations as well as some private attorneys. The Center for Heirs' Property Preservation provides the following services:

• Conducts heirs property clinics where staff can educate heirs on their rights and strategies to ensure they do not lose their land.
• Provides extended legal assistance and representation to heirs who are in the process of losing their land.
• Trains community mediators who help facilitate resolutions that would bypass auctioning off of the property.
• Creates educational materials to share with community members.

The Center is supported by grants from The Ford Foundation, Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, South Carolina Bar Foundation, Coastal Community Foundation of South Carolina, and Charleston County and City of North Charleston governments.

Contact Information:

Jennie L. Stephens
Executive Director
2148 Dorchester Road
North Charleston, SC 29405
Phone: (843) 745-7055
Fax: (843) 745-7054
jennie_chpp@bellsouth.net

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