Using Alternative Dispute Resolution to Address Racial, Ethnic & Socio-Economic

The program will focus on the benefits of the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act, adopted in 21 jurisdictions comprising a majority of the population of the United States, and the 2019 New York-specific modifications to the Uniform Act. The Uniform Act is designed to protect legacy family land and home ownership within communities struggling with systemic socioeconomic barriers. Black heirs have been disproportionately subject to predatory action by developers and speculators to acquire such property, displacing families and appropriating significant intergenerational wealth and historic legacies. For example, it is estimated that in 14 states in the Deep South and Southeast, rural and urban land in heirs' property ownership currently has a value in excess of $47 billion. Lack of access to quality legal counsel and lack of estate planning often results in intestacy and tangled title problems, aggravated by disputes among family members that can result in an individual filing a partition action or selling a small interest to a predator. The default tenancy in common co-ownership with many potential heirs exacerbates attendant difficulties such as borrowing money, paying real property tax and making necessary repairs and makes such properties particularly vulnerable to such predatory practices.

Speakers

Alfreida B. Kenny, Esq.

K. Scott Kohanowski, Esq.

Joshua F. Walden, Esq.

Conner Bailey, PhD.

Moderator: Erica Levine Powers, Esq.