Heirs’ property and related issues of tax foreclosure, land loss, tangled title, and partitioned sales have disproportionate effects on Black communities, resulting in lost economic power and lost family legacies. The lack of estate planning is a significant factor in the displacement of Black families across the Country. Research shows that families who lose their homes due to estate issues often receive only 30-50% of their property’s true market value when forced to sell.Estate Planning is essential to prevent future ownership issues and preserve both generational wealth and cultural legacies. The most effective efforts to address heirs’ property issues focus on ownership preservation and are built on broad community organizational partnerships to systematically provide the complex array of services necessary to preserve ownership and asset integrity. These widespread community efforts build trust through resident engagement and education to understand the complexities of heirs’ properties and action steps to preserve legacies.
Join us to learn from Dr. Ashley Paige Allen, executive director of Houston Community Land Trust and Kristopher Smith, Senior Community Development Program Officer with LISC Jacksonville. Dr. Allen will share how HCLT approaches estate planning through their homebuyer stewardship. Mr. Smith will speak to the successes seen through robust community organizational partnerships to curb property loss in Jacksonville, FL, and how other places throughout the nation are looking to replicate it.
