HEIRS Act of 2025

What it does

This bill requires the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to provide grants to assist individuals with the legal processes associated with inheriting certain real property.

Under the first program, HUD must provide grants to states that have enacted the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act (UPHPA) (or similar state law). The UPHPA provides due process protections against forced property sales for individuals who inherit real property from a landowner without a will. Historically, state property laws have provided that recipients of such property become tenants-in-common, which permits a single tenant to exercise their right to partition and sell the property.

A state or local government must use grant funds to assist residents with expenses related to establishing and documenting property ownership rights or settling a decedent's estate, including costs related to

• obtaining title reports, title abstracts, copies of public records, and land surveys;

• estate planning;

• heirs searches or tracing services; and

• recording and filing fees, notary fees, and legal fees and expenses.

Under the second program, HUD must provide grants to housing counseling agencies, legal services clinics at institutions of higher education, and qualified nonprofits. Such organizations must use grant funds to provide housing counseling, legal assistance, and financial assistance related to title clearing and home retention efforts for individuals who inherit property as tenants-in-common.

Summary by the Congressional Research Service, Feb 26, 2025 (Introduced in House). CRS summarizes bills impartially; it does not take positions.