Gullah Geechee people offered chance to save family properties passed down through generations

South Carolina enacted the Heirs’ Property Tax Relief Act to protect families from forced property sales tied to heirs’ property problems. The law prevents counties from reassessing property values when heirs clear property titles or resolve disputes about ownership. It enables families with heirs’ properties—land inherited by multiple owners not listed on the title—to transfer title between family members without real estate taxes increasing. Gullah Geechee people, descendants of formerly enslaved West Africans, are identified as especially vulnerable to heirs’ property issues that can lead to annual tax auction sales, predatory development, and conflict within families. The legislation was developed through collaboration among Lowcountry Gullah Foundation, the Center for Heirs’ Property, and Habitat for Humanity, including attorney and official working groups and prior study recommendations.

"The Heirs' Property Tax Relief Act, signed into law by Henry McMaster, the state's governor, on 15 May, prevents counties from reassessing property values when heirs clear their property titles, or resolve disputes about the ownership. The act allows families with heirs' properties land inherited by multiple owners who are not listed on the title to transfer the title between family members without their real estate taxes increasing."

"Gullah Geechee people, the descendants of formerly enslaved west Africans who retained their culture and customs, are especially vulnerable to heirs' property issues. They can lead to their homes being sold at annual auctions for delinquent tax payments, predatory development and interfamily fighting."

"The legislation originated through a collaboration between the advocacy groups Lowcountry Gullah Foundation, the Center for Heirs' Property, and Habitat for Humanity. Luana Graves Sellars, founder of Lowcountry Gullah Foundation, convened a working group of attorneys and elected officials to craft bills that addressed heirs' property issues."

"Since it launched in 2019, the Hilton Head Island-based Lowcountry Gullah Foundation has helped families with heirs' properties pay off their property taxes and hosted workshops on writing wills. The Center for Heirs' Property, the [Lowcountry Gullah] Foundation and Habitat for Humanity we're all walking in the same direction with heirs' property, Graves Sellars said."

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