Jennie Stephens, Center executive director
receives the SCAAHC Preserving Our Places
in History Award from Dr. Marvin Dulaney,
SCAAHC treasurer and Michael Allen, SCAAHC
Vice chairperson

CHPP BOARD

Judge Joseph S. Mendelsohn, Chair
Attorney At Law

Judge Tamara Curry, Chair Elect
Associate Probate Judge
Charleston County

Dr. Everard O. Rutledge, Treasurer
VP Community Health
Bon Secours Health System, Inc.

Nancy Bloodgood, Past Chair
Attorney
Young, Rivers, Clement, LLC

Gillettie Bennett
Home Mortgage Consultant
Wells Fargo Mortgage

Judge Bernard Fielding
Attorney At Law

Charles S. Goldberg
Attorney
Charles S. Goldberg, LLC

Amanda Lawrence
Sales Marketing and Community Affairs Director
WCSC- TV 5

John L. S. Simpkins
Assistant Professor
Charleston School of Law

Juan Watson Tolley
Law Office of Juan Watson Tolley

The Center for Heirs' Property Preservation has a mission of preserving heirs’ property and history while promoting equitable growth throughout the Lowcountry counties of Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester and Georgetown. The Center accomplishes this mission by providing educational and legal services to (1) low-wealth heirs’ property owners, (2) nonprofit organizations serving heirs’ property owners, (3) attorneys and judges handling heirs’ property cases, and (4) the community at large. Also, the Center is in its early stages of working with low-wealth neighborhood and community leaders regarding local planning and development efforts.

The Center targets heirs who inherited land and are potentially threatened with losing it due to the fact that the property passed by intestate succession rather than under a will. Heirs' property rights are vulnerable due to the potential for conflict among multiple heirs and the likelihood that such a conflict would result in a loss of the land. Under South Carolina law, land that passes by intestate succession (i.e., without a will) is legally owned by all the descendants in common. Any heir, regardless of his/her interest, can request that the land be partitioned and this request typically results in the land being sold at auction and the proceeds are then divided up among the living heirs. This legal vulnerability has resulted in the loss of many family estates, and in particular, has affected the African-American community living in coastal South Carolina.

Key Accomplishments
Since its inception as a nonprofit organization in March 2005 , the Center has provided legal advice and consultation to more than 365 applicants, 43 legal seminars have been conducted with 912 persons in attendance. The Center produced an award winning video for persons who cannot read our printed brochure and 1700 persons have benefited from educational seminars, brochures and the video. The Center has successfully resolved 11 heirs' property cases, with cases reaching the end of the pipeline by either having titles cleared or heirs determined.

The Center was the recipient of the 2007 South Carolina African American Heritage Commission, Preserving Our Places in History Award. The Center was recognized for its work in providing education and legal services to African Americans in the Lowcountry on how to preserve heirs' property.