Heirs’ Property in Rural Tennessee and Beyond
Property Law, Rural Communities, Preventing Land Loss
Across rural Appalachia, families contend with a profound barrier to economic development: their land is held in what is known as ‘Heirs’ Properties’ – land that is owned by multiple descendants of a family member who died without a will or deed.
Without proof of ownership, these families and individuals cannot fully benefit from land value and are vulnerable to losing the land in a forced sale. In Fall 2024, a team of lawyers (Lucy Jewel, Eric Amarante), social scientists (Gabe Schwartzman, Lindsay Shade), and a landscape architect (Scottie McDaniel) received a UT Grand Challenge grant to produce a case study of Heirs’ Property in Claiborne and Campbell counties – part of the Clearfork Valley region – and co-design resources to serve as guides for resolving Heirs’ Property cases in rural Tennessee and beyond.
Law student researchers supervised by Jewel and Amarante conducted legal research and interviewed court officials and property owners in Claiborne and Campbell counties. The students produced comprehensive memos about the state of Heirs’ Property issues in these counties, as well as a summary of barriers created by current Heirs’ Property laws in Tennessee and suggested mechanisms for avoiding and/or resolving Heirs’ Property issues. Schwartzman and Shade worked with social science graduate students to map the extent and value of Heirs’ Property in Claiborne and Campbell counties, and they began to look for trends and correlations among Heirs’ Properties and comparisons to other counties. Schwartzman and McDaniel, with the support of Katie Mahalic (Cinema Studies), led two complementary projects in the Appalachian Justice Research Lab which focused on collecting oral histories from community members impacted by Heirs’ Property issues and producing A.I. images about visions for future land use in the Clearfork Valley.
From this research, the team produced a number of resources. Shade and McDaniel developed a digital story map, a visual way to understand the history, use, and future visions for land in the Valley. Jewel developed a legal resource guide – a plain language tool geared towards Tennesseans who are looking for support to prevent or resolve Heirs’ Property issues – which is available online and in print at local UT Ag Extension offices across the state. Jewel also hosted an in-person legal resource workshop at the Clearfork Community Institute in Spring 2026.
The AJRC is exploring future research possibilities that emerged during the course of the Grand Challenge project: individuals and communities continue to underline the need for a holistic approach to solving Heirs’ Property issues that brings together legal, estate planning, and financing support and services.