The new farm bill includes, for the first time, provisions
for maintaining ownership of “heirs’ property” land and access to USDA
programs.
It applies to the 11 states, including Iowa, that have
adopted the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act, written by Texas A&M
University Law professor Tom Mitchell.
Heirs’ property comes about in the absence of a will, “And it’s widely
recognized to be the most unstable form of the common ownership of real
property of land in the United States.”
With “heirs’ property”, Mitchell says, there is typically no
clear title to the property which causes many problems, “Families that own
heirs’ property have been rendered ineligible for a wide variety of local,
county, state and federal programs.”
And, he says, that means no access to USDA loans, disaster
aid or other helpful programs that could keep those lands from falling into
disrepair and forcibly sold for prices below market value.
Continue reading Heirs’ property fix in farm bill at Brownfield Ag News.
