Law school launches new ‘Heirs’ Property Project’

April 21, 2023

Wake Forest Law’s new Heirs’ Property Project, housed in the Environmental Law and Policy Clinic, hopes to help fill the gap in legal services around heirs’ property, once again demonstrating a deep commitment to equity, justice, and Wake Forest’s motto of Pro Humanitate.

As much as 4% of all property in North Carolina—valued at approximately $2 billion—is held as heirs’ property, yet only a handful of organizations in the state provide legal and other services to heirs’ property owners? Heirs’ property, a form of joint ownership of land by descendants of a person who died without a will, bars access to capital, government assistance, and expertise—and it invites predatory dispossession. Unsurprisingly, the majority of heirs’ property titles exist in communities of color and low-income communities.

The Heirs’ Property Project, which partners with front-line organizations across North Carolina, helps:

• Provide direct representation to heirs’ property owners
• Build a pipeline of lawyers trained to manage heirs’ property cases
• Serve as a hub for research, learning, and interdisciplinary training on land rights issues in North Carolina

Clinic Director Scott Schang, with assistance from Law Fellow Jesse Williams, is supervising 12 students this semester as they take on 6 heirs’ property cases. The project is funded in part by a pledge from the Conservation Trust for North Carolina Working Group, as well as by a grant from the Skadden Foundation.

The Heirs’ Property Project is built on radical collaboration (the project is engaging the School of Divinity and undergraduate students) and demonstrates Wake Forest Law’s leadership in the field of environmental justice.

For more information the Heirs Property website.