Abstract
The ramifications of a tenancy in common or heirs’ property ownership are extensive. This kind of tenuous ownership affects not only individual families but also the economic health of the typically minority and lower-wealth communities where these properties tend to cluster. Very little research has identified heirs’ property extent at a broad scale, however. We present results of our approach to identifying heirs’ parcels for every county and census tract in the U.S., using geospatial methodologies and aggregated parcel records acquired from LightBox. The method estimated 444,172 heirs’ parcels for the U.S., not including territories. The combined acreage is 9,247,452 worth $41,324,318 billion. We discuss shortcomings of secondary parcel data and the problems this presents for accurately assessing heirs’ property extent, while the spatial location aspect allows us to analyze for spatial patterns such as clustering, which supports new analyses of issues associated with heirs’ property.
Publisher
Southern Rural Development Center
Publication Date
2023
Spatial Coverage
United States
Research Center
Southern Rural Development Center
Keywords
geographic information systems, heirs' property, spatial analysis, tenancy in common
Recommended Citation
For future citations, please consult with the corresponding author (G. Rebecca Dobbs, gladys.dobbs@usda.gov) for the appropriate final reference.