We have much more to do and your continued support is needed now more than ever.
Reclaiming Heirs’ Property: One Landowner’s Story
Joseph Hamilton compares his acreage to that of the plantation that used to occupy the land on which his property now stands. Credit: Shelby Diehl
In 1865, Dr. Thomas Lining, a former slave owner in South Carolina, signed over his land to Lizzie Cunningham Dottree Hamilton. However, this wasn’t an act of generosity, but rather done to avoid prosecution. While Dr. Lining fled, the asset emboldened the Hamilton family. But it didn’t come without long-term trials and tribulations.
Enter Joseph Hamilton, Lizzie Cunningham Dottree Hamilton’s grandson. Joseph is one of the National Wildlife Federation’s Longleaf for All Landowner Mentors. The Landowner Mentorship Model, in partnership with USDA NRCS, the U.S. Forest Service, and America’s Longleaf Restoration Initiative partners, recruits landowners growing longleaf pine on their property to share lessons in land ownership and sustainable management techniques with their community.
Unclear titles to land
He’s one of many landowners navigating heirs’ property, which, per the United States Department of Agriculture, “is family-owned land that is jointly owned by descendants of a deceased person whose estate did not clear probate.” The descendants can use the property, but there isn’t a clear or marketable title, splitting ownership evenly among every relative descended from the deceased individual.
Although jointly-owned land may sound appealing to some, it’s anything but. The absence of a clear deed or will complicates ownership over generations, given the passing of time and people.
This past March, Joseph hosted “Landowner Field Day: Helping Your Forest Work For You,” demonstrating how local landowners can reap the benefits of longleaf pine while ensuring participants had access to professional resources. At this Landowner Field Day, Joseph said, “I know [a] heirs’ family [that] has 400 people. Two separate families, all living within probably 20 minutes of each other.”
As you can imagine, it’s not easy making a clear-cut decision with 400 people’s input, as everyone has their own beliefs, values, and desires. However, one of the several problems with heirs’ property is, in many cases, that descendants exist who don’t know they have a share in the land.
Therefore, tracing ownership from the original landowner to the current owners is an important step in resolving heirs’ property. But that doesn’t mean everyone will care about the land like the others.
Misaligned land interests and bad actors
This leads to the problem of uninterested heirs selling property and/or the natural resources on said land. Although selling without proof of ownership isn’t easy, it can—and has—happened. Per the Center for Community Progress, developers and speculators exploit disinterested or vulnerable heirs to acquire interest in the property, subsequently forcing “property sales through a “partition” action.”
As a result, commercial buyers purchase the land “for a fraction of its value and [deprive] families of both property and wealth associated with the land.”
This hampers generational wealth for families like Joseph’s. But like many landowners, he’s determined to ensure that his children and grandchildren are left with a slew of property in their name. Through his heirs’ property research, he’s been able to reclaim select amounts, while finding a newfound passion, saying, “I fell in love twice. First when I returned from the airforce and met my wife—we’ve been together 48 years. The second time with history, when I started my research.”
In his investigation, he learned that when Dr. Lining signed over the property to Lizzie Cunningham Dottree Hamilton, the property sat at approximately 888 acres. However, to survive as the years went on, bartering and exploitative land theft methodologies resulted in an exacerbated rate of lost land loss. By 1875—10 years post civil war—the Hamiltons were down to 345 acres, reflecting significant land loss.
When Joseph acquired a cleared title in 2010, the total boundary survey was 44.4 acres.
The family partitioned the acreage, leaving Joseph with approximately 12 acres. Subsequently, he was able to purchase an additional 16.6 acres of the original footprint of the Lining Plantation and one acre of the original footprint of the Lining Tract, leaving him with just under 30 acres. But 30 acres can’t compare to the family’s original wealth of land, which if it were able to have been kept in the family, would have resulted in heaps of generational wealth.
A way forward for landowners
The fight to resolve heirs’ property isn’t an easy one, but, with determined landowners like Joseph, there’s no doubt that this struggle will lessen in the coming years. However, the problem won’t fade unless steps are taken to resolve it. So, if you’re a landowner struggling with heirs’ property, reach out to an attorney with experience in heirs’ property to start your reclamation journey.
For those needing financial assistance in resolving these issues, nonprofits like The Center for Heirs’ Property Preservation and the Georgia Heirs Property Law Center are there to help.
USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender.
