I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8127 

To establish a grant program for States that adopt the Uniform Partition 

of Heirs Property Act, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 23, 2024 

Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia (for herself, Mrs. FLETCHER, Mr. CLEAVER, and 

Mr. DONALDS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To establish a grant program for States that adopt the 

Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Heirs Estate Inherit5 ance Resolution and Succession Act of 2024’’ or the 

6 ‘‘HEIRS Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR ELIGIBLE ENTITIES THAT ADOPT THE 

2 UNIFORM PARTITION OF HEIRS PROPERTY 

3 ACT. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Housing and 

5 Urban Development shall, not later than 1 year after the 

6 date of the enactment of this section, establish a grant 

7 program that provides amounts to eligible entities that— 

8 (1) before the date of the enactment of this sec9 tion, had enacted or adopted the Uniform Partition 

10 of Heirs Property Act as approved and rec11 ommended for enactment in all the States by the 

12 National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform 

13 State Laws in 2010 or a similar law that the Sec14 retary determines is a substantial equivalent; and 

15 (2) on or after the date of the enactment of this 

16 section, enact or adopt the Uniform Partition of 

17 Heirs Property Act as approved and recommended 

18 for enactment in all the States by the National Con19 ference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws in 

20 2010 or a similar law that the Secretary determines 

21 is a substantial equivalent. 

22 (b) USE OF AMOUNTS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible entity that re24 ceives amounts under this section shall use such 

25 amounts to assist residents of such eligible entity 

26 with bona fide expenses relating to establishing and 


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1 documenting property ownership rights or settling a 

2 decedent’s estate, including fees and costs related to 

3 obtaining title reports and title abstracts, copies of 

4 public records, land surveys, estate planning, heirs 

5 search or tracing services, recording and filing fees, 

6 notary fees, and legal fees and expenses. 

7 (2) LAYERING OF ASSISTANCE.—An eligible en8 tity that receives amounts under this section may 

9 use such amounts to assist residents of such State 

10 who are receiving assistance from other sources, in11 cluding Federal, State, local, private, public, and 

12 nonprofit sources. 

13 (c) REGULATIONS AND CRITERIA FOR SELECTION.— 

14 The Secretary shall, not later than 1 year after the date 

15 of the enactment of this section, issue a rule to carry out 

16 this section, that includes criteria for the selection of re17 cipients. 

18 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

20 appropriated to the Secretary of Housing and Urban 

21 Development $30,000,000 each of year fiscal years 

22 2025 through 2035 to carry out this section. 

23 (2) AVAILABILITY.—Any amounts appropriated 

24 under this subsection shall remain available until ex25 pended. 


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1 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

2 (1) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

3 the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 

4 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti5 ty’’ means a ‘‘State’’ and a ‘‘unit of general local 

6 government’’ as such terms are defined in section 

7 102 of title 1 of the Housing and Community Devel8 opment Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5302) a territory, 

9 or a Tribal government. 

10 SEC. 3. GRANTS TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE RELATING TO 

11 HEIRS’ PROPERTY RESOLUTION. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Housing and 

13 Urban Development shall carry out a program under this 

14 section to provide grants each year to eligible entities to 

15 use to provide housing counseling, legal assistance, and 

16 financial assistance related to title clearing and home re17 tention efforts for owners of heirs’ property. 

18 (b) AWARDS.—The Secretary shall consider the fol19 lowing when awarding grants under this section: 

20 (1) Whether the eligible entity has a proven 

21 track record of— 

22 (A) providing assistance to homeowners; 

23 (B) targeting services to minority and low24 and moderate-income persons; and 


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1 (C) providing services in neighborhoods 

2 that have a high concentrations of minority per3 sons or low- and moderate-income persons. 

4 (2) Whether the eligible entity has planned or 

5 existing partnerships with other eligible entities. 

6 (3) Whether the eligible entity is located in an 

7 area with a high number of owners of heirs’ prop8 erty, as determined by the Secretary. 

9 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

10 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary, for grants 

11 under this section, $10,000,000 in each of fiscal years 

12 2025 through 2029. 

13 (d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 

14 following definitions shall apply: 

15 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti16 ty’’ means— 

17 (A) a HUD approved housing counseling 

18 agency; 

19 (B) a legal services clinics operated by an 

20 institute of higher education; or 

21 (C) a qualifiying nonprofit. 

22 (2) HEIRS’ PROPERTY.—The term ‘‘heirs’ prop23 erty’’ means residential property for which title 

24 passed by operation of law through intestacy and is 

25 held by two or more heirs as tenants in common. 


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1 (3) HUD APPROVED HOUSING COUNSELING

2 AGENCY.—The term ‘‘HUD approved housing coun3 seling agency’’ means a housing counseling agency 

4 found eligible to receive assistance by the Depart5 ment of Housing and Urban Development under sec6 tion 106(a)(2) of the Housing and Urban Develop7 ment Act of 1968. 

8 (4) LOW- AND MODERATE-INCOME PERSONS.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘low- and 

10 moderate-income persons’’ means a person 

11 whose household income does not exceed 120 

12 percent of the median income for the area, as 

13 determined by the Secretary, within which— 

14 (i) the heirs’ property which respect to 

15 which the homeowner is seeking assistance 

16 is located; or 

17 (ii) the place of residence of the home18 owner is located. 

19 (B) EXCEPTION.—If the area described in 

20 subparagraph (A) is a high-cost area, as deter21 mined by the Secretary, the term ‘‘low- and 

22 moderate-income persons’’ means a homeowner 

23 whose household income does not exceed 140 

24 percent of the median income for the area. 


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1 (5) QUALIFYING NONPROFIT.—The term 

2 ‘‘qualifying nonprofit’’ means a nonprofit, mission3 driven entity that, as determined by the Secretary— 

4 (A) has a track record of providing assist5 ance to homeowners; 

6 (B) targets services to minority and low7 and moderate-income persons; or 

8 (C) provides services in neighborhoods that 

9 have high concentrations of minority persons 

10 and low- and moderate-income persons. 

11 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

12 the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 

13 SEC. 4. HEIRS’ PROPERTY HOUSING COUNSELING. 

14 Section 106(g) of the Housing and Urban Develop15 ment Act of 1968 (12 U.S.C. 1701x(g)) is amended by 

16 adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

17 ‘‘(6) COUNSELING WITH RESPECT TO HEIRS’ 

18 PROPERTY.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any nonprofit organi20 zation that receives amounts under this section 

21 shall, when providing homeownership counseling 

22 services to consumers— 

23 ‘‘(i) explain to such consumer what 

24 heirs’ property is, the risks associated with 


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1 heirs’ property, and how to avoid heirs’ 

2 property issues; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) inform consumers of all available 

4 estate planning and title clearing options, 

5 assistance, and services, including those of6 fered under sections 2 and 3 of the Heirs 

7 Estate Inheritance Resolution and Succes8 sion Act of 2024. 

9 ‘‘(B) REFERRAL.—The Secretary shall en10 sure that each nonprofit organization that re11 ceives amounts under this section knows how to 

12 refer consumers, where appropriate, to mission13 driven nonprofit organizations and legal services 

14 clinics operated by institutes of higher edu15 cation that are capable of assisting a consumer 

16 to clear title and with general estate planning. 

17 ‘‘(C) HEIRS’ PROPERTY.—The term ‘heirs’ 

18 property’ means residential property for which 

19 title passed by operation of law through intes20 tacy and is held by two or more heirs as ten21 ants in common.’’. 

Æ 


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