VSB NEWS < Noteworthy Unanimous, Bipartisan Act Aims to Help Owners of Heirs’ Property On Monday, July 20, 2020, at Blakely Farm in McGaheysville, Governor Ralph Northam signed into law the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act, a unanimous, bipartisan act designed to assist landowners with heirs’ property and tenancy-in-common property in Virginia. Featured in Virginia Lawyer in 2018, the issue and the ensuing enact-ment was the work of many Virginia lawyers and volunteers, and the tena-cious work of North Carolina-based Black Family Land Trust (BFLT). According to Ebonie Alexander, ex-ecutive director of the BFLT, “Nineteen diverse organizations to include land trust and other conservation organiza-tions pulled together to get the Uniform Partition Heir’s Property Act passed during the 2020 session of the general assembly.” In 1920, there were more than 900,000 black-owned farms in the United States comprising 14 percent of the total farmland. By 1974, this number had fallen 95 percent to just 46,000 black-owned farms. Of the remain-ing farms today, many are owned by multiple people after the original owners passed away, often without a will. According to Alexander, the key issue is educating the public. “heir’s property is not an issue of race, gender, ethnicity, or social class. It is an issue of education: making sure that clients, whether they own a condo in northern Virginia or 100 acres in Augusta County, Governor Ralph Northam and Ebonie Alexander at the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act official signing. The mountain in the background is owned by BFLT client, NBA and UVa basketball star Ralph Sampson’s family in the Blakely Family Trust. Photo by Jack Mayer have a will and other estate planning documents in place to ensure that property does not get caught in an heirs property situation.” Research from Auburn and Tuskegee Universities estimates that there are 150,000 to 175,000 acres of heirs’ property currently owned by people of any race or ethnicity in the 36 southside counties in Virginia. This property is conservatively valued at $650 million. Heirs property disproportionate-ly impacts middle and low-income families and communities that do not have access to affordable legal services to protect their property rights and the families’ inherited wealth. Pro bono attorneys are needed to serve on the Black Family Land Trust Legal Services Advisory Committee to assist the organization with connecting landowners in need of free and low-cost legal services to willing lawyers. Additionally, the new law does open some channels for funding to pay for legal work. The VSB will be working with the BFLT to do a CLE on the new law in the coming months. Interested lawyers are asked to contact Director of Access to Legal Services Crista Gantz at cgantz@vsb.org. 2020 Mandatory Professionalism Courses Canceled Due to the COVID-19 health crisis, the VSB has canceled all Mandatory Professionalism Courses for calendar year 2020. Course attendance compli-ance deadlines have also been extended. Members who are required to attend the www.vsb.org course will be notified by email as soon as courses are scheduled in 2021. If you have any questions, email professionalismcourse@vsb.org. VOL. 69 | AUGUST 2020 | VIRGINIA LAWYER 37
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VSB News < Noteworthy
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