Thomas Mitchell is a Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Real Estate and Community Development Law Program at Texas A&M University. An amazing thing has happened in modern history and that’s the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act. Thomas has been working for over 15 years to get a real estate partitions law updated with regards to heirs property. For decades, rightful landowners have lost their land due to unfair practices, but that has all changed now. Find out more on today’s episode.
Key Takeaways:
[1:40] A message from Leadership Nature.
[2:25] A quick intro about Thomas’s background.
[3:40] How did Thomas first get started in land retention and land rights?
[8:55] What was the process Thomas went through to change the direction of what law he wanted to practice in?
[11:55] When Thomas described to his colleague what he wanted to do, his colleague said it was career suicide.
[13:25] Thomas is so glad he didn’t listen to him because he knows he made the right decision.
[16:00] What kinds of issues do people face with heirs’ properties?
[24:25] When people have inherited property over the generations, a lot of times the property lacks clear ownership titles and that ends up creating a murky lens for the courts on who owns what.
[28:00] Real estate developers will often contact a distant relative that owns possibly 1% of the land and try to convince them to do a partition by sale agreement, and by doing this, heirs can lose their entire share.
[30:40] On top of this, the courts are using the wrong analysis to determine the worth of the land.
[38:10] What has the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act has accomplished?
[43:55] When Thomas received word his proposal was being selected, he almost fell out of his chair!
[47:25] What parts of the partition law will be changed due to this act?
[55:20] Many Americans do not make wills for their family. For African American families specifically, only 15% of them have a will.
[1:03:40] What results has Thomas seen so far?
[1:10:50] Thomas did not do this alone! He credits the network of people who have helped make this possible.
Mentioned in This Episode: