II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4899 

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

of Heirs Property Act, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 31, 2024 

Ms. BUTLER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

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’’. 

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

8 UNIFORM PARTITION OF HEIRS PROPERTY 

9 ACT. 

10 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti2 ty’’ means— 

3 (A) a State or unit of general local govern4 ment, as those terms are defined in section 102 

5 of the Housing and Community Development 

6 Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5302); 

7 (B) a territory; or 

8 (C) a Tribal government. 

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

10 the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 

11 (b) GRANT PROGRAM.—Not later than 1 year after 

12 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall es13 tablish a grant program that provides amounts to eligible 

14 entities that have enacted or adopted the Uniform Parti15 tion of Heirs Property Act as approved and recommended 

16 for enactment in all the States by the National Conference 

17 of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws in 2010 or a 

18 similar law that the Secretary determines is a substantial 

19 equivalent. 

20 (c) USE OF AMOUNTS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that re22 ceives a grant under this section shall use the grant 

23 amounts to assist residents of the eligible entity with 

24 bona fide expenses relating to establishing and docuVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:54 Aug 29, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4899.IS S4899

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1 menting property ownership rights or settling a de2 cedent’s estate, including— 

3 (A) fees and costs related to— 

4 (i) obtaining title reports and title ab5 stracts, copies of public records, and land 

6 surveys; 

7 (ii) estate planning; or 

8 (iii) heirs search or tracing services; 

9 (B) recording and filing fees; 

10 (C) notary fees; and 

11 (D) legal fees and expenses. 

12 (2) LAYERING OF ASSISTANCE.—An eligible en13 tity that receives a grant under this section may use 

14 the grant amounts to assist residents of the eligible 

15 entity who are receiving assistance from other 

16 sources, including Federal, State, local, private, pub17 lic, and nonprofit sources. 

18 (d) REGULATIONS AND CRITERIA FOR SELECTION.— 

19 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 

20 Act, the Secretary shall promulgate regulations to carry 

21 out this section that include criteria for the selection of 

22 grant recipients. 

23 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

24 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary 


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1 $30,000,000 for each of year fiscal years 2025 through 

2 2035 to carry out this section. 

3 SEC. 3. GRANTS TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE RELATING TO 

4 HEIRS’ PROPERTY RESOLUTION. 

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti7 ty’’ means— 

8 (A) a HUD-approved housing counseling 

9 agency; 

10 (B) a legal services clinic operated by an 

11 institution of higher education, as defined in 

12 section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 

13 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001); or 

14 (C) a qualifying nonprofit. 

15 (2) HEIRS’ PROPERTY.—The term ‘‘heirs’ prop16 erty’’ means residential property— 

17 (A) for which title passed by operation of 

18 law through intestacy; and 

19 (B) that is held by 2 or more heirs as ten20 ants in common. 

21 (3) HUD-APPROVED HOUSING COUNSELING

22 AGENCY.—The term ‘‘HUD-approved housing coun23 seling agency’’ means a housing counseling agency 

24 found eligible to receive assistance by the Secretary 


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1 under section 106(a)(2) of the Housing and Urban 

2 Development Act of 1968 (12 U.S.C. 1701x(a)(2)). 

3 (4) LOW- OR MODERATE-INCOME PERSON.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

5 subparagraph (B), the term ‘‘low- or moderate6 income person’’ means a homeowner whose 

7 household income does not exceed 120 percent 

8 of the median income for the area, as deter9 mined by the Secretary, within which— 

10 (i) the heirs’ property which respect to 

11 which the homeowner is seeking assistance 

12 is located; or 

13 (ii) the place of residence of the home14 owner is located. 

15 (B) EXCEPTION.—With respect to an area 

16 described in subparagraph (A) that is a high17 cost area, as determined by the Secretary, the 

18 term ‘‘low- or moderate-income person’’ means 

19 a homeowner whose household income does not 

20 exceed 140 percent of the median income for 

21 the area, as determined by the Secretary. 

22 (5) QUALIFYING NONPROFIT.—The term 

23 ‘‘qualifying nonprofit’’ means a nonprofit, mission24 driven entity that, as determined by the Secretary— 


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1 (A) has a track record of providing assist2 ance to homeowners; 

3 (B) targets services to minority persons 

4 and low- or moderate-income persons; or 

5 (C) provides services in neighborhoods that 

6 have a high concentration of— 

7 (i) minority persons; and 

8 (ii) low- or moderate-income persons. 

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

10 the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 

11 (b) GRANT PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall carry out 

12 a program under this section to provide grants to eligible 

13 entities to use to provide housing counseling, legal assist14 ance, and financial assistance related to title clearing and 

15 home retention efforts for owners of heirs’ property. 

16 (c) AWARDS.—The Secretary shall consider the fol17 lowing when awarding grants under this section: 

18 (1) Whether the eligible entity has a proven 

19 track record of— 

20 (A) providing assistance to homeowners; 

21 (B) targeting services to minority persons 

22 and low- or moderate-income persons; and 

23 (C) providing services in neighborhoods 

24 that have a high concentration of— 

25 (i) minority persons; and 


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1 (ii) low- or moderate-income persons. 

2 (2) Whether the eligible entity has planned or 

3 existing partnerships with other eligible entities. 

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

5 area with a high number of owners of heirs’ prop6 erty, as determined by the Secretary. 

7 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

8 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary, for grants 

9 under this section, $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

10 2025 through 2029. 

11 SEC. 4. HEIRS’ PROPERTY HOUSING COUNSELING. 

12 Section 106(g) of the Housing and Urban Develop13 ment Act of 1968 (12 U.S.C. 1701x(g)) is amended by 

14 adding at the end the following: 

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

16 PROPERTY.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A nonprofit organiza18 tion that receives amounts under this section 

19 shall, when providing homeownership counseling 

20 services to a consumer— 

21 ‘‘(i) explain to the consumer what 

22 heirs’ property is, the risks associated with 

23 heirs’ property, and how to avoid heirs’ 

24 property issues; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) inform the consumer of all avail2 able estate planning and title clearing op3 tions, assistance, and services, including 

4 those offered under sections 2 and 3 of the 

5 Heirs Estate Inheritance Resolution and 

6 Succession Act of 2024. 

7 ‘‘(B) REFERRAL.—The Secretary shall en8 sure that each nonprofit organization that re9 ceives amounts under this section knows how to 

10 refer consumers, where appropriate, to mission11 driven nonprofit organizations and legal services 

12 clinics operated by institutions of higher edu13 cation, as defined in section 101 of the Higher 

14 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001), that 

15 are capable of assisting a consumer to clear 

16 title and with general estate planning. 

17 ‘‘(C) DEFINITION OF HEIRS’ PROPERTY.— 

18 For purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘heirs’ 

19 property’ means residential property— 

20 ‘‘(i) for which title passed by oper21 ation of law through intestacy; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) that is held by 2 or more heirs 

23 as tenants in common.’’. 

Æ 


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