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The Legal Summary: Heirs' Property in Alabama
Sources: HeirShares, Legal Services Alabama, Farmland Access Legal Toolkit
Inheritance Laws
When a person dies owning real estate, their heirs inherit their real estate and other assets. Heirs are determined by a will and/or the state law. Transfers through inheritance, whether through a will or state law, typically creates heirs’ property- multiple family member co-owners.
What happens if you die with a will?
The will must be filed with the local authority to create a record of who inherited your assets. Learn more here. In Alabama, a will must be filed with the probate court within five years of the testator’s death (Legal Zoom).
What happens if you die without a will?
If you die without a will or your will does not fully dispose of your assets, the state laws determine who inherits your real estate and other assets.
In Alabama, your assets are distributed as follows:
For real estate, the state's inheritance laws, where any deceased person’s real estate is located, govern who inherits unless the person has a will and the will is filed.
Decision-Making / Authority
Heirs’ property owners own real estate as “tenants in common.” This is a specific bundle of legal rights.
Any decisions about the property require unanimous decisions from all owners.
Decisions made without a 100% agreement of the owners can be voided. This includes contracts such as leases to others, loan applications, sales of timber, etc.
Succession Planning for Family Real Estate
Physical Division and Sales
Co-owners can voluntarily agree to divide or sell the property physically. It requires 100% agreement of all owners. To be effective, it’s important that an attorney confirm who the current legal owners are.
Court ordered physical division, and sales are called partition actions. In a partition action, the court must first determine if the property can be physically divided equitably and proportional to every owner’s share. If it cannot be physically divided, the court must order the sale of the property.
In Alabama, co-owners have a right of first refusal in a partition action to purchase the petitioning owner’s share of the property.
In Alabama, the court must obtain an appraisal of the property's fair market value and order a sale on the open market.
Court actions for the partition of family land should be viewed as a last resort because they are expensive and leave family members with little or no decision-making authority.
Individuals and families with generational real estate should consider placing ownership in a trust or business entity to have the ability to set the rules for how decisions are made, including divisions and sales of the property.
How Can You Get Help?
Information
Item | Link | Source | |
Heirs' Property 101 Courses | HeirShares | ||
HeirShares Podcast | Anywhere | HeirShares | |
FAQ & Factsheet: Heirs Property in Alabama | Legal Services Alabama | ||
Heirs Property: The Ripple Effects | Legal Services Alabama | ||
Heir's Property: Understanding Legal Issues in Alabama | Farmland Access Legal Toolkit | ||
How Do I Sell My Heir Property in Alabama? | Waters Sullivan | ||
Intestate Succession in Alabama -What happens if you die without a will? | NOLO |
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Legal Assistance
Legal Services Alabama - LSA is one of the preeminent legal aid organizations in the country in bridging the civil justice gap through its recognized commitment to racial, social, and economic justice and the support of talented, diverse, and innovative staff.
Funding
USDA: Shared Capital Cooperative, which has a partnership with the Federation of Southern Cooperatives
Service Area: Producers in the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina
Contact: Christina Jennings, (612) 767-2114; and Dania Davy, (404) 765-0991 or info@federation.coop.
Home Recovery Alabama Program (HRAP): provides housing assistance to eligible single-family owner/occupant applicants (Owner-Applicants) and owners of single-family rental properties (Landlord-Applicants) affected by Hurricane Sally in September 2020 and/or Hurricane Zeta in October 2020 (“qualifying storms”).