Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

Summary of annual business meeting minutes attached.

The overall Heirs’ Property multi-state group operates a listserv (102 members for the general listserv and an heirs’ property research subgroup with 43 members). There were monthly virtual meetings, coupled with periodic working group meetings held on their own schedules. Additionally, members of the group have organized special sessions at professional conferences, including the Professional Agricultural Workers Conference, Rural Sociological Society, and the Southern Rural Sociological Association/Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists. In February 2025, the multi-state group held a virtual annual business meeting.

Working Groups

Activities, outputs, and outcomes of the working groups are mentioned in the Impact Statements portion of this report, but more details are provided here.

Research

The Research Working Group met three times in 2024. The Ethics working group initially started as a sub-committee of the research group before becoming an independent operation. In addition to the working group meetings and two projects described below, the research committee also expanded the shared research file of heirs’ property scholarship to 298 total articles.

Network Survey - Several scholars in the research and legal-policy working groups have developed a new partnership with the Center for Heirs Property Preservation (CHPP) and the Heirs' Property Practitioner Network (HPPN). This survey collected both qualitative and quantitative data primarily focused on mapping the larger heirs' property social network and corresponding geospatial locations. After three rounds of distributing the survey to the Extension trainees, researchers, and legal working groups, we received 112 complete responses. These responses listed an average of 7.1 references to other people, giving the network of roughly 516 actors spread across the country. The qualitative descriptive breakdown of the larger composition revealed the following: Legal Service Providers (183), Technical Assistance (99), Research (55), Extension/Education (146), Policy (50), and Funders (26). The research project is scheduled to be released in 2025 across a few sub-studies.

Ethics Working Group - An offshoot of the Research Working Group, the Research Ethics subgroup was formed to engage with the ethical dimensions of working with heirs’ property information and to develop strategies to reduce vulnerability for individuals, families, and communities. This includes addressing how we work with and protect both primary and secondary information. In addition to monthly and then biweekly calls, the group also developed a formal project that has included a Delphi meeting (hosted at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta), a listening session with landowners, five focus groups, and conference presentations (Professional Agricultural Workers, Southern Rural Sociological Association). The group has received additional support for the work via a grant from JPMorganChase to the Policy Research Center at Alcorn State University. Next steps include a research convening and the development of toolkits for researchers, attorneys, and outreach/Extension professionals.

Extension and Outreach

The Understanding Heirs' Property program, the Extension and Outreach branch of SERA49, has demonstrated significant progress in addressing this critical issue. With over 810 professionals trained, the program has built a strong foundation for community-level change across twelve (12) states: Alabama, California, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Texas and Virginia. Outputs of the program include over a dozen state resources, brochures, and a national repository.  Multi-university partnerships have enhanced collaboration and resource sharing. Outreach efforts have raised awareness among target audiences, and preliminary data indicates success in resolving title issues for some families. These outcomes highlight the program's effectiveness in empowering communities to address the challenges of heirs' property and improve land ownership security. Preliminary data indicates increased awareness of heirs property issues among target audiences and documented progress in resolving title issues for some families.

Legal-Policy

The Legal-Policy Working Group held virtual meetings from October 2023 to January 2025, facilitating discussions among academic partners, non-profit representatives, and others to address policy developments and strategies. The meetings featured notable guests such as heirs’ property attorneys, legislative staff, and a county public probate administrator. Regular attendees included organizations like the Policy Research Center at Alcorn State University, National Consumer Law Center, and various academic institutions, all engaged in policy-related issues.

Presentations

Numerous professional presentations were made by members based on work affiliated with SERA49. Illustrative meetings are listed here.

Conner Bailey:  Professional Agricultural Workers Conference; Rural Sociological Society; Southern Poverty Law Center.

John J. Green: Association of 1890 Research Directors, Association of 1890 Extension Administrators, Association of Southern Region Extension Directors, agInnovation South, Advancing Mississippi.

Mary Henderson: Real Property Fall CLE Seminar.

Annette Hiatt: Carolina Farm Stewardship Association’s Sustainable Agriculture Conference; Croatan Institute Stakeholder Meeting; Heirs’ Property Symposium.

Savie Horne: Gaining Ground Documentary Commentary.

Portia Johnson: Heirs’ Property Boston Conference; Understanding Heirs Property at the Community Level Trainings -  Birmingham, Houston, Orlando, Memphis, Raleigh.

Francine Miller, National Consumer Law Center; Professional Agricultural Workers Conference; Rural Sociological Society; Southern Rural Sociological Association; Heirs’ Property Train the Training Workshops - Atlanta, Dallas, Orlando, Montgomery, Raleigh; Heirs’ Property Boston Conference; National Farm Viability Conference; Multiple webinars for CBOs regarding heirs’ property.

Christina Rice: Croatan Institute Stakeholder Meeting; Heirs’ Property Symposium; Real Property Fall CLE Seminar 2023.

Roseanne Scammahorn: Understanding Heirs Property at the Community Level Trainings - Birmingham, Memphis, Orlando, Raleigh; NOPBNRCSE Minority Farmer Meeting.

Jasmine Simington: Heirs’ Property Boston Conference.

Becky Smith: Southern Rural Sociological Association; Advancing Mississippi Conference;  Understanding Heirs Property at the Community Level Trainings - Atlanta, Birmingham, Houston, Memphis, Raleigh, San Juan.

Kurt W. Smith:  Small Farms Week; North Carolina Extension Conference; Penn State University; Southern Political Science Association; Professional Agricultural Workers Conference; Regional Small Farms Conference; North Carolina Cattlemen’s Association; Forest Service Law and Policy Group Research; several county-level Extension trainings; IUFOR Forest Knowledge Exchange, Padova Italy; IUFRO Small Scale Forestry, Stockholm, Sweden; IUFOR-Small Scale Forestry, Tartu, Estonia.

Jennie Stephens: Heirs’ Property Boston Conference.

Ryan Thomson: Professional Agricultural Workers Conference; Rural Sociological Society; Southern Rural Sociological Association; Heirs Property Train the Training Workshops - Atlanta, Birmingham, Houston, Montgomery, Raleigh, Orlando, San Juan;  Heirs’ Property Boston Conference; Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund Heirs’ Property Bootcamp; Southern Poverty Law Center; Alabama Heirs’ Property Alliance ACES Training; Watchparties 1, 2, 3, 4; Community Outreach - Camp Hill, Haynesville, Birmingham.

Sandra Thompson: Southern Rural Sociological Association. Understanding Heirs Property at the Community Level Training - Atlanta, Birmingham, Houston, Memphis, Orlando, Raleigh, San Juan.

Kara Woods: Professional Agricultural Workers Conference; Rural Sociological Society; Southern Rural Sociological Association; Heirs’ Property Train the Training Workshops - Birmingham, Charlotte, Dallas, Houston, Montgomery, Orlando, Raleigh, San Juan; NOPBNRCSE Minority Farmer Meeting; Heirs’ Property Boston Conference; National Farm Viability Conference.

Robert Zabawa: Professional Agricultural Workers Conference; Southern Rural Sociological Association; Understanding Heirs’ Property at the Community Level Trainings - Atlanta, Birmingham, Charlotte, Orlando, Raleigh, San Juan.

Media Engagement

Ryan Thomson: NBC News, Union of Concerned Scientists, Associated Press, ABC News, Miami Herald.

Kara Woods, Ryan Thomson, Robert Zabawa, Connor Bailey, Policy Center Live: Heirs’ Property, What is the Magnitude, and What are the Associated Problems. Policy Research Center located at Alcorn State University.

New Funding

New funding was obtained by members to support their work related to SERA49 during the reporting period.

Jennifer Pindyck (PI), Christian Lopez, and Ryan Thomson,  “All in the Family”: Recognizing new Typologies in Family-Owned Rural Cooperative Housing.” College of Architecture, Design and Construction Seed Grant, Auburn University. ($10,000) - 2024 to 2025.

Adam Rabinowitz (PI), Ryan Thomson, Portia Johnson, Adam Kantrovich, “Building Wealth Through Transition of Heirs Property Owners to New Agricultural and Forestry Production” Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Development Program. USDA-NIFA, USDA-2023-49400-40876. ($750,000) - 2024 to 2026.

Danielle Rudolph (PI), Kimberly Holmes, Kelly McTear, Portia Johnson, and Ryan Thomson. “Saving the Family Property: Heirs’ Property Prevention, Resolution, and Land Use.” 1890 Extension Capacity Building Grant, USDA-NIFA. ($250,000) - 2024 to 2026.

Eloris Speight (PI), Kara Woods (Collaborator), John Green (Co-PI). “Heirs’ Property Research and Ethics Toolkits.” JPMorganChase. ($300,000) - 2024-2025.

Eloris Speight (PI), “Advancing Heirs’ Property Training” USDA-FSA ($4,500,000) - 2022-2027.

Subawards were made to multiple universities during the reporting period for SERA 49. Subaward universities include: Tuskegee University, Florida A&M University, South Carolina State University, Virginia State University, Prairie View A&M University, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, North Carolina A&T University, Lincoln University, University of Arkansas Pine Bluff, Kentucky State University, Alabama A&M University, New Mexico State University, Southern University, Tennessee State University, Alcorn State University, West Virginia State University.

Eloris Speight (PI), “Ag Financial, Tax and Asset Protection Program: Understanding Heir's Property at the Community Level,” University of Arkansas. ($700,000) - 2024 to 2027.

Ryan Thomson (PI), Kara Woods, Portia Johnson, Robert Zabawa, Roseanne Scammahorn, Rebecca Smith. “Gaining Ground: Advancing Agricultural Production by Addressing Heirs' Property” Small and Medium Size Farms.” USDA-NIFA, USDA-2024-68006-42501. ($750,000) - 2024 to 2027.

Awards and Recognition

SER49 members received awards recognizing their work on topics related to heirs' property.

Conner Bailey.  Distinguished Rural Sociologist.  August 2024 meetings of the Rural Sociological Society.

Alabama Heirs Property Alliance (Portia Johnson, Ryan Thomson, Robert Zabawa). PAWC Success Award. November 2024 Professional Agricultural Workers Conference.

Additional Illustrative SERA49 Participant Excerpts

Conner Bailey: Presented research on quantifying the extent and value of heirs' property regionally (Appalachia and the South) and nationally (Objective 2). This policy-relevant research will help policymakers design and implement programs to benefit owners of heirs’ property (Objective 3). Invited participant in a workshop sponsored by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy designed to assist this Institute in identifying opportunities for engagement with other stakeholders in the heirs’ property (Objective 4). Contribute to the SRDC train-the-trainer programs on heirs’ property through involvement in curricular design (Objective 1).

John J. Green: Helped to coordinate/provide support to the heirs’ property multi-state group and assisted with the research ethics subgroup (Objective 1). The latter included leadership on developing the Institutional Review Board application for focus groups (Objective 2). Green also collaborated with SERA49 member Robert Zabawa and managing editor Elizabeth Sweeney to edit and publish a special issue of the Journal of Rural Social Sciences (Objective 2). Led the development of heirs’ property survey questions to be included in a three-region general household survey conducted through the Regional Rural Development Centers (Objective 2).

Emma Scott: Assisted with coordination of the Policy-Legal Working Group, facilitating dialogue to address heirs' property issues with SERA49 members and guest speakers (Objective 4).

Ryan Thomson: Hosted two additional trainings at the state level through the Alabama Heirs Property Alliance (AHPA) (Objective 4); one at the 4-H Center in Columbiana (1/9/2024-1/10/2024) and the second in Birmingham (5/28/2024-5/29/2024), which was also a Continued Learning Education Credit for the Alabama American Bar Association (ABA).

Kara Woods: Presented research to inform Cooperative Extension professionals concerning overall facts about heirs’ property and land loss, along with training staff across the U.S. (Objective 1)  including Raleigh, NC (02-27-29/2024); Birmingham, AL (05/28-29/2024); Raleigh, NC (10-28-30/2024); Orlando, FL (11/12-14/2024). Policy-relevant research will help policymakers design and implement programs to benefit owners of heirs’ property, especially as it relates to the Farm Bill (Objective 3).

Robert Zabawa: Presented research to inform Cooperative Extension professionals concerning overall facts about heirs’ property and land loss, along with training staff across the U.S. (Objective 1), including Raleigh, NC (02-27-29/2024); Birmingham, AL (05/28-29/2024); Raleigh, NC (10-28-30/2024); Orlando, FL (11/12-14/2024). Presented material before community members on heroes property (objective 4) including: Mosses, AL (1/26/2024); Selma, AL (03/20/2024); Union Springs, AL (07/15/2024); Tuskegee, AL (08/08/2024); Mobile, AL (08/21/2024).

SERA49 members reported numerous publications during the reporting period. These included edited and peer-reviewed chapters, journal articles, and Extension publications.

Chapters and Articles

Johnson Gaither, C. 2024. "Heirs’ Property and Its Ramifications." In: Elgar Encyclopedia of Sociology, pp.354-358. (ed): Overdevest, C. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781803921044.ch63 

Throne, R. 2024. "A Critical Data Ethics Analysis of Algorithmic Bias and the Mining/Scraping of Heirs' Property Records." In B. Verma, B. Singla, & A. Mittal (Eds.), Digital Technologies, Ethics, and Decentralization in the Digital Era. Premier Reference Source. IGI Global.

Bailey, Conner, G. Rebecca Dobbs, Cassandra Johnson Gaither, and Ryan Thomson.  2023.  "Heirs’ Property: Where, How Much, and Why Does it Matter?"  Heirs’ Property Issue Brief 23-1.  Starkville, MS:  Southern Rural Development Center.  https://srdc.msstate.edu/sites/default/files/2023-06/HP-brief-Bailey-Dobbs-Gaither-Thomson-6.2023-final.pdf

Smith, Kurt W. 2024. “The Necessary Role of Extension in Preventing Land Loss through Heirs Property Ownership.” Journal of Extension https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/joe/vol62/iss2/6/

Smith, Kurt W., Fred Land Cubbage. 2024. "Land Fragmentation and Heirs' Property." Current Issues and Policy Responses https://doi.org/10.3390/land13040459

Thomson, Ryan, and Conner Bailey. 2023. "Identifying Heirs’ Property: Extent and Value Across the South and Appalachia." Journal of Rural Social Sciences, 38(2): Article 2. Available at: https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/jrss/vol38/iss2/2

Zabawa, Robert, John Green, and Elizabeth Sweeney, editors. 2023. "Special Issue on Heirs’ Property." Journal of Rural Social Sciences, 38(1): Available at: https://open.clemson.edu/jrss/vol38/ 

Zabawa, Robert, John Green, and Elizabeth Sweeney. 2023. "Introduction to the Special Issue on Heirs’ Property." Journal of Rural Social Sciences, 38(1): Article 3. Available at: https://open.clemson.edu/jrss/vol38/iss1/3

Extension Publications

Johnson, Portia, Ryan Thomson, Adam Rabinowitz, and Katie Keown. 2024. Heirs Property in Alabama. ACES Extension Publication HE-0852. https://www.aces.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/HE-0852-Heirs-Property__COMPRESSED_091624L-G.pdf 

Mardis, Jamie, Adam Rabinowitz, Ryan Thomson, and Portia Johnson. 2024. Preparing Family Landowners in Alabama for Hurricanes. https://www.aces.edu/blog/topics/farm-management/preparing-family-landowners-in-alabama-for-hurricanes/ 

Smith, Kurt W. 2023. Heirs’ Property. Ag-946 https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/heirs-property-ownership

Smith, Kurt W. 2023. Keeping the Land: Succession Planning for Landowners. Ag-952 https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/keeping-the-land