Introduction

The Uniform Partition of Heirs’ Property Act (UPHPA) seeks to address partition action abuses that have led to significant property loss, especially for Black Americans. The act is sponsored by the Uniform Law Commission, which provides states with non-partisan, well-conceived and well-drafted legislation that brings clarity and stability to critical areas of state statutory law. Each state decides whether to adopt or not adopt legislation sponsored by the Commission.

In an heirs’ property situation, when one tenant in common wants to leave the tenancy-in-common, the issue is often resolved through a legal proceeding known as a “partition action,” and if the property cannot be divided up physically, the result can be a court-ordered partition sale of the entire property, regardless of whether the other tenants in common want to sell or not.

The following is an example of heirs' property loss from the Uniform Law Commission:

A widow with three children owns a small farm, including a farmhouse where she lives. Unless the widow makes other provisions in her estate plan, when she dies the three children will inherit the property as tenants in common. That is, the children will each own a one-third share of the undivided piece of real estate. Imagine that two of the children would like to maintain their ownership of the farm, but the third child wants to convert his share into cash. Because his siblings cannot afford to buy him out, he sells his one-third interest to an unrelated real estate investor.

The unrelated investor-owner can petition a court for partition of the farm. If the property contains only one farmhouse, dividing it into shares of equal value may be difficult. Therefore, a court is likely to order a partition-by-sale, forcing the two siblings to sell the property against their will with the cash distributed to the tenants in common in proportion to their ownership. Even worse, forced sales often bring meager returns when the land is auctioned and there are few bidders. The investor might purchase the remaining shares at a price well below fair market value, and the siblings would have little to show for their inheritance.