Law Center News
Law Center creates Heirs' Property Initiative to assist with land and homeownership
Wealth disparities often exist due to the lack of land and homeownership. The wealth gap is greater when death occurs and the proper legal tools cannot be instituted to clear deeds or titles to land and other property. Therefore, the Southern University Law Center has created the SULC Heirs' Property Initiative to lend its legal expertise and assist those requiring support in this matter. Most recently, the Huey and Angelina Foundation awarded the Law Center a $150,000 grant to carry out the initiative.
“As an institution of access and opportunity, we are charged with providing assistance to those that face barriers as a result of an often cost prohibited legal system,” said Marla Dickerson, supervising attorney and associate vice-chancellor of the Office of Innovation and Strategic Partnerships and Initiatives. “The Heirs' Property Initiative seeks to eliminate the barriers while implementing experiential learning opportunities for budding legal professionals."
Through the Office of Innovation and Strategic Partnerships and Initiatives, the Heirs Property Initiative seeks to reduce the barrier to various legal issues that arise from inherited property not being properly passed from the decedent to heirs by providing legal services and filing fees for the creation of wills and preparation of succession pleadings.
The lack of ability to access the legal system regarding property that belonged to family members that are deceased creates issues with the ability to properly maintain the property.
In fact, marginalized and underserved populations are the most affected by this issue. The barriers faced by this population involve the lack of access to funds to properly file legal pleadings to clear the title.
The Law Center will partner with community groups, such as Southeast Louisiana Legal Services, Louisiana Appleseed, and Metamorphosis, to host monthly educational seminars and intake sessions regarding wills and preliminary succession information. In addition, it will provide legal services and funding to aid in the completion of successions so that a proper transfer. The initiative will house three in-house attorneys and nine student strategic fellows to conduct research and preparation of pleadings.
For more information on the initiative, visit www.sulc.edu.
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