For generations, the Rhue family has gathered in Georgetown, South Carolina every few years to celebrate their roots and strengthen the bonds that stretch across the country. These reunions are filled with joy, food, fellowship and a family business meeting focused on issues that can shape the family's future, such as the complexities of property inheritance.
Back in 2016, Alex Rhue, Senior Manager of Analytics & Insights Lead for Centralized Commercial Credit at TD Bank, invited an expert on property inheritance to speak at the gathering. Drawing on his extensive banking career in real estate strategy, and as a board member at the Center for Heirs' Property ™, Alex knew the topic impacted many families, particularly in the south. While he knew at the time of the reunion that the topic hit close to home, he did not fully realize how complicated it could be. Heirs' property would become a personal challenge as Alex and his siblings faced it firsthand through both their mother's and father's side of the family.
"We had the group in our family that was aging, and the land had always been just passed down without a will," Alex said. "With relatives moving out of South Carolina, many haven't been to the property in a couple of generations, which results in a lack of an attachment to a place that others in the family called home."
Heirs’ property occurs when a homeowner dies without a will or other estate planning documentation. The property or land is then owned informally by the heirs (sometimes multiple generations). Unless the heirs go through a formal legal administrative procedure, the title remains in the name of the deceased ancestor because the estate did not clear probate. Another common form of this issue is tangled titles, where the heir or heirs can later find it hard to prove their ownership because, though they may be living in the home passed on to them, their name does not appear on the deed—creating a “tangled title.”
Restoring a home to its former glory
As a youngster, Alex didn't know the Georgetown house he grew up in was in fact impacted by heirs' property. Alex's childhood was full of family moments as his paternal grandparents, aunts and other relatives lived on the same subdivided property in their own homes.
The entire property was purchased by Alex's great-grandfather and his cousin many years earlier. It was passed down informally to other family members after the death of the two men. Without a will designating who inherited the property, the owners of the property included the nine children of Alex's grandfather and the heirs of those siblings who were deceased.
"Over the course of time, our grandparent's home landed in a state of ambiguity," Alex said. "No one really lived there after my grandmother passed away. With most of my aunts migrating north, probably during the great migration, most of my aunts, uncles, and cousins were far away. The home just started to decay, basically, as the siblings had not resolved the ownership issues. A lot of things happen really quickly, when the rodents take over. It is incredible how quickly houses begin to fall apart with no air circulating through them."
After a decade where no action was taken, Alex's older sister decided she wanted to restore their grandparents' home to its former glory. So, she endeavored to reach out to each potential heir, including aunts, cousins and other relatives to sign over their rights. This process took three years for her to convince all stakeholders and obtain the signatures needed to resolve the situation. As of today, the house is still undergoing renovation.
Alex notes that in his family's case, they were fortunate to be able to afford an attorney and mobile notary to help them. His sister was fully prepared with the important information and legal documents before approaching the family members. She stuck to the facts, left emotion out of the discussion and emphasized that repairing the home would be costly but that not doing anything would mean the house would eventually be in a state beyond repair.
Sharing the experience and knowledge gained
On his maternal side, Alex's mother bought an Alabama property from his grandparents. After the death of Alex's maternal grandmother, his grandfather remarried and took a reverse mortgage on his home. Subsequently, the couple divorced, making things more complicated. Alex's family was able to hire a lawyer in Alabama after the death of their grandfather to help them identify and reach out to each family member that had potential rights to the property.
Alex noted that without a clean title, rightful heirs are unable to get a mortgage or refinance the home. The impacts can be substantial on the financial futures of the heirs.
"Beyond that, you have to think about the other aspects as well," Alex said. "What happens if somebody gets hurt on this property you didn't know you had ownership over? Could they go after your personal assets? There were potentially more widespread consequences than I ever realized."
Based on his family's experience, Alex recommends families pursuing reconciling heirs' property to do the following:
- Have patience and persistence
- Educate yourself and your family members on heirs' property
- Leverage positive family relationships to help in the process (i.e. – you may need a family advocate to get other relatives onboard)
- Understand that there are emotional connections where family members will find that it is hard to let go of the property, even in the cases where the isn't any observable monetary value associated with it.
Alex noted that these issues can be avoided in the future for family members by writing a will and making it very clear as to who should inherit their property. But if that isn't the case, he said his situation shows the issue can be resolved with a lot of hard work, patience, and using available resources such as Center for Heirs' Property ™
and other non-profits dedicated to helping families in this situation.
Advice on how to deal with meeting family members to discuss heirs' property
Every heirs’ property case and family are unique, however Brianna Jackson, Director of Legal Services at Center for Heirs' Property ™, a TD Bank business customer, offers these general tips for meeting with family members to discuss the situation.
Brianna also encourages families to reach out to Center for Heirs' Property ™ or other local organizations for assistance and to learn more about the topic.
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