Georgia Heir Property

You might be wondering what is heir property!?! Heir Property is defined as land held in common by descendants of a person who dies without a valid will or whose estate was not offered for probate (meaning it was not taken to probate court for administration). Heir property can also be created when a will leaves property to more than one beneficiary. 

When a person dies without a valid will, the person dies intestate. All of the property owned by that person is considered intestate property. Intestate property typically passes down automatically to the qualifying heirs as tenants in common. (There are situations when the intestate property does not pass to all of the qualifying heirs but we won't cover them in this blog post.) Likewise, if a will leaves property to multiple beneficiaries, the beneficiaries own the land as tenants in common. As tenants in common, each heir owns a fractional interest in each piece of intestate property which gives each heir equal rights to use and possess the property. 

While this may not seem like a big deal, when it comes to real property (i.e. land and all of the structures on said land) it is. When there are multiple heirs, owners, the heir property title is considered clouded. As a result, in order to do anything with the land all of the heirs must agree. However, unanimous agreement among heir property owners is rare. In Georgia, especially rural areas, heir property is a common problem.

The 5 biggest disadvantages of owning heir property are:

1. The inability to take out a mortgage or get other financing using the land as collateral because all of the heirs have to agree to take on the debt and be responsible for repaying the debt;
2. The inability to rent, lease, or even sale the land because no one has the authority to rent, lease, or sale the land without consent from all of the heirs;
3. The inability to actually use or possess the land like a sole owner could because every heir has the right to use and possess it simultaneously; 
4. As members of each generation die without a valid will, the number of owners increases and the size of each heir's interest in the heir property decreases; and 
5. The high risk that the property will be lost because of a forced partition sale (when a co-owner forces a sale of the property to get their share) or tax sale (if no one pays the taxes). 

​So what can you do to protect your family's heir property? 

1. Have a title search performed on the property in question to determine ownership and the existence of any liens on the property;
2. Make sure that the city and county real estate taxes are paid and that someone is responsible for taking care of the taxes each year;
3. Make sure that you and all of your family members get valid wills prepared to limit the addition of more heir owners and the further dilution of each heir's ownership interest;
4. Keep a record of any expenses related to the property because depending on what the heirs decide to do with the property, persons who have paid more than their share of expenses may be entitled to reimbursement;
5. Construct a family tree to determine who the heirs are and include contact information for each heir when possible; and
6. Seek legal assistance if there are disputes over ownership, what to do with the land, etc. 

If there is no heir property in your family, give your ancestors a standing ovation! Then do your part to ensure that heir property never becomes an issue in your family by hiring an attorney to draft a valid will for you as a part of a comprehensive estate plan. 

---