Page 23 - Georgia Forestry - Summer 2019

MACON • ATLANTA ROME • LUMPKIN WAYCROSS
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disinterested real estate appraiser, to assess the true value of the land. This can help prevent the heirs property from being bought at below market price — as outside speculators have often tried to do.
“I think the new Uniform Partition Acts provide a lot of protections that were previously unavailable,” said Walden. “There are a lot more checks against forced partition sales instituted by non-family members, who might have purchased their way in.”
Because uniform partition reform has been framed as a property rights issue — as well as a way of overcom- ing racial injustice — the UPHPA has been popular across partisan lines, and actually passed the Georgia leg- islature unanimously. This is also an exciting time for organizations like the GHPLC, which has provided title clear- ing, estate planning and related services for over 250 cases since its founding in 2015. There have never been more tools available for forest landowners seeking to convert their property from a burden into a resource, but academics and non- profits say more work can be done to educate the public.
“We’re definitely in it for the long haul,” said Porter. “The goal is to get to an awareness level where people under- stand what heirs property is, and they understand that it can be remediated and prevented.”
The GHPLC has taken a leading role in the Georgia Landowners Academy, which has served 133 participants, and is available to anyone who owns 10 or more acres. In addition to hearing about the cost-sharing programs and expert advice offered by the state, attendees could also have wills prepared by a licensed attor- ney — all for free. These introductions to heirs property — while not exactly fun — have left the novice forest landowners feeling far more confident and informed than when they started.
“We were at ground zero when we began,” one Augusta-based landowner said, following the graduation cere- mony. “But now, we’ve got a thousand different ideas on what to do next. It’s beenoutstanding.”
REID SINGER IS A JOURNALIST BASED IN ATLANTA. HE HAS WRITTEN
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