What is Heirs' Property?

Heirs’ property is land or a house that is owned by two or more family members who inherited it from a common ancestor. The owners are called “tenants in common,” which means they all own a share of the whole property, but no one owns a specific piece of it. In other words, no one can point to one part of the land and say, “This part is mine alone.”

This usually happens when a person who owns property dies, and the land is passed down to their children or relatives—either through a will, a trust, or their state's inheritance laws. Often, the new owners don’t officially update the deed or record who owns the land., so the land records still show the deceased ancestor as the current owner of the property. Over time, more and more people become owners, and it becomes harder to keep track.

This can cause problems when a family wants to make decisions about the land or use it to generate income. The problems tend to get worse over time until someone takes legal action to address the situation.