I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1640 
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 
FEBRUARY 26, 2025 
Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia (for herself, Mrs. FLETCHER, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. 
DONALDS, Mr. BISHOP, Mr. MFUME, Ms. NORTON, and Ms. TLAIB) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Fi-
nancial Services 
A BILL 
To establish a grant program for States that adopt the 
Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Heirs Estate Inherit-
ance Resolution and Succession Act of 2025’’ or the 
‘‘HEIRS Act of 2025’’. 
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SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR ELIGIBLE ENTITIES THAT ADOPT THE 
UNIFORM PARTITION OF HEIRS PROPERTY 
ACT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Housing and 
Urban Development shall, not later than 1 year after the 
date of the enactment of this section, establish a grant 
program that provides amounts to eligible entities that— 
(1) before the date of the enactment of this sec-
tion, had enacted or adopted the Uniform Partition 
of Heirs Property Act as approved and rec-
ommended for enactment in all the States by the 
National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform 
State Laws in 2010 or a similar law that the Sec-
retary determines is a substantial equivalent; and 
(2) on or after the date of the enactment of this 
section, enact or adopt the Uniform Partition of 
Heirs Property Act as approved and recommended 
for enactment in all the States by the National Con-
ference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws in 
2010 or a similar law that the Secretary determines 
is a substantial equivalent. 
(b) USE OF AMOUNTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible entity that re-
ceives amounts under this section shall use such 
amounts to assist residents of such eligible entity 
with bona fide expenses relating to establishing and 
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documenting property ownership rights or settling a 
decedent’s estate, including fees and costs related to 
obtaining title reports and title abstracts, copies of 
public records, land surveys, estate planning, heirs 
search or tracing services, recording and filing fees, 
notary fees, and legal fees and expenses. 
(2) LAYERING OF ASSISTANCE.—An eligible en-
tity that receives amounts under this section may 
use such amounts to assist residents of such State 
who are receiving assistance from other sources, in-
cluding Federal, State, local, private, public, and 
nonprofit sources. 
(c) REGULATIONS AND CRITERIA FOR SELECTION.— 
The Secretary shall, not later than 1 year after the date 
of the enactment of this section, issue a rule to carry out 
this section, that includes criteria for the selection of re-
cipients. 
(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary of Housing and Urban 
Development $30,000,000 each of year fiscal years 
2026 through 2036 to carry out this section. 
(2) AVAILABILITY.—Any amounts appropriated 
under this subsection shall remain available until ex-
pended. 
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(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 
(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti-
ty’’ means a ‘‘State’’ and a ‘‘unit of general local 
government’’ as such terms are defined in section 
102 of title 1 of the Housing and Community Devel-
opment Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5302) a territory, 
or a Tribal government. 
SEC. 3. GRANTS TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE RELATING TO 
HEIRS’ PROPERTY RESOLUTION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Housing and 
Urban Development shall carry out a program under this 
section to provide grants each year to eligible entities to 
use to provide housing counseling, legal assistance, and 
financial assistance related to title clearing and home re-
tention efforts for owners of heirs’ property. 
(b) AWARDS.—The Secretary shall consider the fol-
lowing when awarding grants under this section: 
(1) Whether the eligible entity has a proven 
track record of— 
(A) providing assistance to homeowners; 
(B) targeting services to minority and low- 
and moderate-income persons; and 
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(C) providing services in neighborhoods 
that have a high concentrations of minority per-
sons or low- and moderate-income persons. 
(2) Whether the eligible entity has planned or 
existing partnerships with other eligible entities. 
(3) Whether the eligible entity is located in an 
area with a high number of owners of heirs’ prop-
erty, as determined by the Secretary. 
(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary, for grants 
under this section, $10,000,000 in each of fiscal years 
2026 through 2030. 
(d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 
following definitions shall apply: 
(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti-
ty’’ means— 
(A) a HUD approved housing counseling 
agency; 
(B) a legal services clinics operated by an 
institute of higher education; or 
(C) a qualifiying nonprofit. 
(2) HEIRS’ PROPERTY.—The term ‘‘heirs’ prop-
erty’’ means residential property for which title 
passed by operation of law through intestacy and is 
held by two or more heirs as tenants in common. 
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(3) HUD
APPROVED
HOUSING
COUNSELING 
AGENCY.—The term ‘‘HUD approved housing coun-
seling agency’’ means a housing counseling agency 
found eligible to receive assistance by the Depart-
ment of Housing and Urban Development under sec-
tion 106(a)(2) of the Housing and Urban Develop-
ment Act of 1968. 
(4) LOW- AND MODERATE-INCOME PERSONS.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘‘low- and 
moderate-income persons’’ means a person 
whose household income does not exceed 120 
percent of the median income for the area, as 
determined by the Secretary, within which— 
(i) the heirs’ property which respect to 
which the homeowner is seeking assistance 
is located; or 
(ii) the place of residence of the home-
owner is located. 
(B) EXCEPTION.—If the area described in 
subparagraph (A) is a high-cost area, as deter-
mined by the Secretary, the term ‘‘low- and 
moderate-income persons’’ means a homeowner 
whose household income does not exceed 140 
percent of the median income for the area. 
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(5) 
QUALIFYING
NONPROFIT.—The 
term 
‘‘qualifying nonprofit’’ means a nonprofit, mission- 
driven entity that, as determined by the Secretary— 
(A) has a track record of providing assist-
ance to homeowners; 
(B) targets services to minority and low- 
and moderate-income persons; or 
(C) provides services in neighborhoods that 
have high concentrations of minority persons 
and low- and moderate-income persons. 
(6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 
SEC. 4. HEIRS’ PROPERTY HOUSING COUNSELING. 
Section 106(g) of the Housing and Urban Develop-
ment Act of 1968 (12 U.S.C. 1701x(g)) is amended by 
adding at the end the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(6) COUNSELING
WITH
RESPECT
TO
HEIRS’ 
PROPERTY.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any nonprofit organi-
zation that receives amounts under this section 
shall, when providing homeownership counseling 
services to consumers— 
‘‘(i) explain to such consumer what 
heirs’ property is, the risks associated with 
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