Heir Property Pro Bono Project

Our Heir Property Pro Bono Project partners with the Real Property Section of the North Carolina Bar Association, with support from the North Carolina Bar Foundation, to recruit North Carolina real-estate lawyers to help heir property owners establish clear title to their home and land. The project’s mission is to preserve both generational wealth in families and safe and affordable housing in low-income communities. Heir property arrangements are most common in Black, rural communities in Eastern NC and some mountain communities in Western NC. The project is funded in part by the Wells Fargo Foundation.

Volunteer type

NC attorneys with real estate experience.

Service level

Brief service. Heir property issues include a wide range of both real property and estate planning matters. The project engages volunteer attorneys to provide a range of legal services, including:

General real property law (deed prep, easement work);
Title searching;
Genealogy/heir research;
Estate administration/probate;
Help with real estate closings/refinance;
Partitions, business formation for heirs who wish to create a family business interest to vest their property;
Foreclosure defense (Tax/Power of Sale by lender); and
Estate planning, as a preventative measure.