Heirs Property: An Examination of Probate Costs and the Costs of Postmortem Probate Inaction

“Heirs property” describes a legal limbo that occurs when multiple heirs or will beneficiaries inherit real property as tenants-in-common without promptly probating the estate to transfer marketable title out of the decedent’s name. This Article draws on recent empirical research to examine the demography of heirs property. It then takes a closer look at the adverse economic impact of postmortem probate inaction by and upon the decedent’s inheritors.