Heirs Education and Investment to Resolve Succession of Property Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Heirs Education and Investment to Resolve Succession of Property Act expands USDA tools for resolving heirs property ownership and succession problems on farmland and forest land with multiple owners. It directs the Secretary of Agriculture to enter cooperative agreements with eligible nonprofit organizations that provide free legal or accounting services to underserved heirs. The services must help resolve ownership and succession issues so land can transition to agricultural production, stay in agricultural production, or meet ownership eligibility rules for USDA programs.
Cooperative agreements may last up to four years and may be renewed if ownership remains unresolved. Eligible entities must provide annual progress reports and data requested by the Secretary. The Secretary must publish selection criteria, administrative requirements, performance requirements, and internal implementation policy. The bill also allows limited services for some heirs who are not underserved if the land could be productive for agriculture, conservation, or forestry and the heir intends to seek USDA program enrollment after claims are resolved.
Who Benefits and How
Underserved heirs with tangled farmland or forest land title benefit because they can receive free legal or accounting help to resolve succession and ownership claims. Heirs property owners benefit if clear title lets them access USDA programs or keep land in agricultural production. Nonprofit legal aid organizations and accounting service providers benefit from cooperative agreement funding. Farmers and forest landowners in persistent poverty communities benefit if property resolution makes land eligible for productive use and USDA assistance.
Who Bears the Burden and How
USDA Farm Service Agency and Rural Development administrators must select eligible entities, manage cooperative agreements, collect annual reports, publish criteria, and enforce performance requirements. Nonprofit service providers must document progress, provide data, and meet administrative requirements. Federal program funds bear the cost of free legal and accounting assistance, while existing program applicants may face more demand on USDA access programs.
Key Provisions
- Authorizes USDA cooperative agreements with nonprofit legal and accounting service providers for heirs property resolution.
- Provides free services to underserved heirs resolving ownership and succession on farmland or forest land with multiple owners.
- Limits cooperative agreements to four years but permits renewed assistance when ownership remains unresolved.
- Requires annual progress reports and data from eligible service providers.
- Requires USDA to publish selection criteria, administrative requirements, performance requirements, and implementation policy.
- Expands limited assistance to certain non-underserved heirs when land could become productive and the heir seeks USDA program access.
- Requires annual reporting on the relending program for farmland ownership and succession.
- Extends land access and farmland ownership data collection reporting through 2031.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Expands USDA heirs property assistance by authorizing cooperative agreements with nonprofit legal and accounting service providers, requiring annual reporting for heirs property programs, and extending land access and farmland ownership data collection through 2031.
Key Policy Areas
Agriculture, Heirs Property, Legal Services, Farmland Ownership, USDA
Primary Purpose
Expands USDA heirs property assistance by authorizing cooperative agreements with nonprofit legal and accounting service providers, requiring annual reporting for heirs property programs, and extending land access and farmland ownership data collection through 2031.
Policy Domains
Sections 4 and 5 annual reports and land access data collection
Identified Gains
- Congressional agriculture committees
- Farmland ownership researchers
- Heirs property policy advocates
Identified Costs
- USDA report preparation staff
- USDA land access data collection staff
Section 3 cooperative agreements for heirs property legal and accounting services
Identified Gains
- Underserved heirs with farmland title problems
- Heirs property owners seeking USDA program access
- Nonprofit legal aid organizations
- Accounting service providers
- Farmers in persistent poverty communities
Identified Costs
- USDA heirs property program administrators
- Eligible nonprofit service providers
- Federal cooperative agreement funds
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeReferred to the House Committee on Agriculture.
Introduced in House
Mr. Bishop (for himself, Mr. Austin Scott of Georgia, and …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Congressional agriculture committees, Federal cooperative agreement funds, USDA heirs property program administrators
Positive-direction: Congressional agriculture committees
Negative-direction: Federal cooperative agreement funds, USDA heirs property program administrators, USDA land access data collection staff, USDA report preparation staff
Accounting service providers, Nonprofit legal aid organizations
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "secretary"
- → Secretary of Agriculture
- "eligible_entity"
- → Nonprofit legal or accounting service provider with heirs property experience
- "underserved_heir"
- → Heir receiving free services to resolve farmland or forest land ownership
- "secretary"
- → Secretary of Agriculture
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
An heir eligible for free services under the cooperative agreement criteria for resolving ownership and succession claims.
A nonprofit organization that provides free legal or accounting services to underserved heirs and has demonstrated experience resolving ownership and succession on multi-owner farmland or forest land.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology