Disclaimer: General educational research only — not legal, tax or disaster-assistance advice. Check FEMA’s current rules and your state’s law, or talk to a local attorney or legal aid office.
Estate Planning Data & Research → Heirs’ Property and Disaster Aid
When a homeowner dies without a will, the house often passes to the children, grandchildren, or siblings with nothing new recorded at the courthouse. The family keeps living there and paying the taxes, but the deed still names someone who died years ago. That’s what people mean by heirs’ property.
Usually nobody notices until something goes wrong, and a hurricane or flood is one of those things. FEMA can’t pay for home repairs until it confirms the applicant owns the home. If the deed shows Grandma’s name, that confirmation gets hard.
We pulled every homeowner registration in FEMA’s public Individuals and Households Program data for disasters declared from 2017 through early October 2026. Then we counted how often FEMA could not verify ownership, state by state, and set those numbers next to the states that have passed heirs’ property partition laws.
A will or trust that says who gets the house, followed by a recorded transfer, keeps a family home from becoming heirs’ property. See whether you need a will, a living trust or both.
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Cite this page URL when reusing findings. Not a substitute for official sources or professional advice.
Key findings
- 155,398 homeowner registrations in the 50 states and DC have a latest FEMA housing-assistance decision that includes “Ownership Not Verified.” That covers disasters declared from January 2017 through early October 2026. Add Puerto Rico and the other territories and the total is 207,528.
- About 1 in 5 homeowner registrations (19.1%) in the 50 states and DC carry FEMA’s “ownership not verified” flag: 1,269,640 out of 6,664,594. That flag is broader than a denial (see the methodology), but it shows how often FEMA ends up without proof of ownership.
- Alabama and Mississippi have the highest rates among states with at least 10,000 homeowner registrations: 108 and 91 ownership-not-verified decisions per 1,000 homeowners. The 50-state-plus-DC rate is 23.3.
- The rate fell by about a third after FEMA changed its rules. For disasters declared on or after Aug. 23, 2021, FEMA began accepting more kinds of proof, including a signed self-declaration from heirs as a last resort. Before the change there were 29.6 ownership-not-verified decisions per 1,000 homeowners in the 50 states and DC. Afterward there were 19.4. The data can’t prove the policy caused the drop, but the timing matches.
- Puerto Rico shows the problem at its worst. After Hurricane Fiona (2022), FEMA flagged ownership as not verified for 726,229 of 778,403 homeowner registrations (93.3%). After Hurricane Maria (2017), the figure was 394,327 of 775,222 (50.9%).
- The biggest single disaster by count was Hurricane Milton in Florida (2024). 28,567 homeowner registrations have a latest decision that includes “Ownership Not Verified.”
- 24 states plus DC have an heirs’ property partition law. Most use the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act or a version of it, and New Jersey (2025) and Rhode Island (2026) are the newest. We confirmed 18 of the 25 on official legislature or code websites. The rest are listed “per LegiScan” and marked with an asterisk below.
State-by-state table
Disasters declared Jan. 2017–early Oct. 2026. “Ownership not verified (flag)” is FEMA’s verifiedOwnership = false field. “Decision lists ‘Ownership Not Verified'” counts homeowner registrations whose latest Housing Assistance status includes the IOWNV code. *Partition law listed per LegiScan, not yet confirmed on an official site. “Not found” means our review didn’t find one, not that no related law exists.
| State | IA disasters since 2017 | Homeowner registrations | Ownership not verified (flag) | Decision lists “Ownership Not Verified” | Per 1,000 homeowners | Heirs’ property partition law |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 9 | 59,982 | 20,153 (33.6%) | 6,481 | 108.0 | Yes (2014)* |
| Alaska | 7 | 13,627 | 1,529 (11.2%) | 217 | 15.9 | Not found |
| Arizona | 6 | 1,156 | 614 (53.1%) | 53 | 45.8 | Yes (2024) |
| Arkansas | 8 | 15,961 | 2,446 (15.3%) | 512 | 32.1 | Yes (2015) |
| California | 13 | 269,748 | 135,051 (50.1%) | 3,795 | 14.1 | Yes (2021)* |
| Colorado | 2 | 2,543 | 308 (12.1%) | 11 | 4.3 | Not found |
| Connecticut | 3 | 4,329 | 473 (10.9%) | 19 | 4.4 | Yes (2015) |
| Delaware | 1 | 94 | 58 (61.7%) | 0 | 0.0 | Not found |
| District of Columbia | 1 | 41 | 30 (73.2%) | 0 | 0.0 | Yes (2022) |
| Florida | 16 | 2,604,223 | 409,949 (15.7%) | 52,349 | 20.1 | Yes (2020) |
| Georgia | 9 | 271,840 | 61,142 (22.5%) | 5,489 | 20.2 | Yes (2012)* |
| Hawaii | 6 | 12,224 | 3,952 (32.3%) | 266 | 21.8 | Yes (2016)* |
| Idaho | 1 | 118 | 70 (59.3%) | 0 | 0.0 | Not found |
| Illinois | 5 | 120,970 | 9,362 (7.7%) | 3,257 | 26.9 | Yes (2019)* |
| Indiana | 4 | 37,119 | 3,934 (10.6%) | 822 | 22.1 | Not found |
| Iowa | 6 | 21,725 | 3,166 (14.6%) | 534 | 24.6 | Yes (2018) |
| Kansas | 1 | 252 | 174 (69.0%) | 0 | 0.0 | Not found |
| Kentucky | 9 | 38,172 | 8,525 (22.3%) | 1,897 | 49.7 | Not found |
| Louisiana | 10 | 613,346 | 124,959 (20.4%) | 20,280 | 33.1 | Not found |
| Maine | 3 | 4,334 | 719 (16.6%) | 65 | 15.0 | Not found |
| Maryland | 1 | 414 | 274 (66.2%) | 0 | 0.0 | Yes (2022) |
| Massachusetts | 2 | 1,718 | 365 (21.2%) | 18 | 10.5 | Not found |
| Michigan | 6 | 164,671 | 14,467 (8.8%) | 6,985 | 42.4 | Yes (2024) |
| Minnesota | 3 | 4,134 | 386 (9.3%) | 57 | 13.8 | Not found |
| Mississippi | 13 | 102,823 | 23,189 (22.6%) | 9,312 | 90.6 | Yes (2020) |
| Missouri | 8 | 32,847 | 6,905 (21.0%) | 974 | 29.7 | Yes (2019) |
| Montana | 5 | 2,644 | 498 (18.8%) | 123 | 46.5 | Yes (2013) |
| Nebraska | 3 | 6,352 | 1,178 (18.5%) | 150 | 23.6 | Not found |
| Nevada | 1 | 222 | 151 (68.0%) | 0 | 0.0 | Yes (2011) |
| New Hampshire | 1 | 61 | 38 (62.3%) | 0 | 0.0 | Not found |
| New Jersey | 2 | 56,613 | 4,981 (8.8%) | 311 | 5.5 | Yes (2025)* |
| New Mexico | 5 | 7,790 | 2,665 (34.2%) | 384 | 49.3 | Yes (2017) |
| New York | 4 | 54,968 | 8,355 (15.2%) | 438 | 8.0 | Yes (2019) |
| North Carolina | 5 | 258,793 | 51,051 (19.7%) | 5,751 | 22.2 | Not found |
| North Dakota | 1 | 63 | 48 (76.2%) | 0 | 0.0 | Not found |
| Ohio | 4 | 6,084 | 1,435 (23.6%) | 120 | 19.7 | Not found |
| Oklahoma | 8 | 15,562 | 3,688 (23.7%) | 951 | 61.1 | Not found |
| Oregon | 3 | 7,359 | 2,949 (40.1%) | 749 | 101.8 | Not found |
| Pennsylvania | 3 | 33,475 | 5,839 (17.4%) | 863 | 25.8 | Not found |
| Rhode Island | 4 | 5,685 | 244 (4.3%) | 27 | 4.7 | Yes (2026)* |
| South Carolina | 5 | 288,072 | 60,206 (20.9%) | 2,658 | 9.2 | Yes (2016) |
| South Dakota | 7 | 5,460 | 680 (12.5%) | 138 | 25.3 | Not found |
| Tennessee | 11 | 43,412 | 8,782 (20.2%) | 1,373 | 31.6 | Yes (2022) |
| Texas | 10 | 1,405,703 | 276,396 (19.7%) | 26,181 | 18.6 | Yes (2017) |
| Utah | 2 | 1,062 | 256 (24.1%) | 27 | 25.4 | Yes (2022) |
| Vermont | 4 | 7,340 | 650 (8.9%) | 67 | 9.1 | Not found |
| Virginia | 2 | 7,942 | 2,432 (30.6%) | 141 | 17.8 | Partial (2020) |
| Washington | 5 | 3,591 | 632 (17.6%) | 122 | 34.0 | Not found |
| West Virginia | 10 | 12,277 | 2,457 (20.0%) | 878 | 71.5 | Not found |
| Wisconsin | 4 | 35,611 | 1,804 (5.1%) | 553 | 15.5 | Not found |
| Wyoming | 1 | 42 | 25 (59.5%) | 0 | 0.0 | Not found |
| Territories (not ranked) | ||||||
| Puerto Rico | 8 | 1,593,594 | 1,139,497 (71.5%) | 46,922 | 29.4 | — |
| U.S. Virgin Islands | 3 | 19,472 | 7,564 (38.8%) | 680 | 34.9 | — |
| Guam | 2 | 15,036 | 6,851 (45.6%) | 2,752 | 183.0 | — |
| Northern Mariana Islands | 5 | 8,835 | 2,339 (26.5%) | 1,365 | 154.5 | — |
| American Samoa | 2 | 6,264 | 678 (10.8%) | 411 | 65.6 | — |
States with few homeowner registrations (under about 10,000, such as DC, Delaware, Wyoming and North Dakota) can show rates that swing a lot from one small disaster. Read their per-1,000 numbers with that in mind.
Why ownership problems differ from state to state
How old the property is and how it passed down. Heirs’ property builds up wherever homes have passed through several generations without probate. It’s common in parts of the rural South, in Appalachia, on tribal lands and in Puerto Rico, where many homes were built informally and never titled.
Which disasters hit, and who applied. Most homeowner registrations come from a handful of huge hurricanes. A state’s rate mostly reflects who lived in the storm’s path and what paperwork they had.
FEMA’s rules changed. Starting with disasters declared on Aug. 23, 2021, FEMA accepts a public official’s letter or receipts for major repairs as proof of ownership. If an heir has no standard documents, FEMA will accept a signed self-declaration as a last resort. It has to include the decedent’s death certificate and a statement made under penalty of perjury. FEMA also said it would send inspectors to homes where ownership couldn’t be verified, instead of just mailing denial letters.
State partition laws protect a different thing. The Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act doesn’t fix title for FEMA. What it does is make it harder for one co-owner, or an outside investor who bought one heir’s share, to force a sale of the whole property. It gives the other relatives an appraisal, a right to buy out the share, and a preference for dividing the land instead of selling it. Families still need to clear title through probate, an heirship affidavit, or whatever process their state uses.
What this means for your family
If you own your home, the simplest protection is a will or trust that says who gets it. Then make sure the transfer is actually recorded after you die. In many states a transfer-on-death deed or a living trust can move the house without a full probate. Our essential estate documents checklist covers the basics.
If you’re living in a family home that’s still in a parent’s or grandparent’s name, deal with it now, before a storm. Find the latest deed. Gather death certificates. Ask the county recorder or a legal aid office how heirs clear title in your state, and keep copies of tax bills and repair receipts. FEMA accepts those as proof of ownership.
Related: Probate costs by state · Avoiding probate · We need a plan now
Related research: mobile and manufactured homes owned by seniors shows another kind of home that is easy to lose when title isn’t settled.
Methodology
FEMA data. The source is FEMA’s OpenFEMA dataset “Individuals and Households Program – Valid Registrations” (API v2), queried Oct. 6, 2026. FEMA last fully refreshed it July 27, 2026, and refreshes recent disasters weekly. We took every major disaster with the Individuals and Households Program declared from Jan. 1, 2017 onward: 283 disasters, from the DisasterDeclarationsSummaries dataset. For each one we ran count queries for:
- all valid registrations
- homeowner registrations (ownRent = “O”)
- homeowners with verifiedOwnership = true, and with verifiedOwnership = false
- homeowners whose haStatus contains “IOWNV” (“Ownership Not Verified”)
We added the disasters up by state.
What the two measures mean.
- verifiedOwnership = false is FEMA’s flag that ownership wasn’t verified. Some of these applicants never needed verification, for example because they had no eligible damage or were covered by insurance. So it isn’t a denial count.
- haStatus is FEMA’s latest Housing Assistance decision, and it can list several reasons together, e.g. “Ineligible Insufficient Damage, Ownership Not Verified.” We count a registration when “Ownership Not Verified” is one of those reasons. Some of those applicants may also have been ineligible for other reasons.
Neither measure identifies heirs’ property directly. Ownership can fail to verify for other reasons too: a recent purchase, a mobile home, missing records. Use these figures as an upper-bound signal, not a count of heirs’ property households.
Before/after comparison. Disasters declared before Aug. 23, 2021, versus on or after that date, which is the effective date of FEMA’s expanded ownership documentation policy. Registrations for disasters declared in the last 30 days may not be in the data yet.
Partition laws. We searched LegiScan across all years for “heirs property,” “heirs’ property” and “heir property” in every state. Then we checked each enacted law on the official legislature or code website where we could, on Oct. 6, 2026. Virginia’s 2020 law (Va. Code 8.01-81.1) requires a court-ordered appraisal in partition cases. We list it as “Partial” because it isn’t the full uniform act. Maryland’s and DC’s versions apply to partition actions generally, and Missouri’s is called the “Save the Family Farm Act.” Louisiana and South Carolina passed study resolutions, which we don’t count as laws.
Rounding. Per-1,000 rates and percentages are rounded to one decimal.
Frequently asked questions
What is heirs’ property?
It’s land or a home that passed to relatives without a will or probate, so several heirs own it together and the deed still shows someone who has died. It’s legal ownership, but it’s hard to prove.
Will FEMA help if my house is still in my late parent’s name?
Possibly. For disasters declared on or after Aug. 23, 2021, FEMA accepts more types of proof, including receipts for major repairs and a public official’s letter. If you have no standard documents, FEMA will accept a signed self-declarative statement from an heir as a last resort. It must include the death certificate. Check FEMA’s “Verifying Home Ownership or Occupancy” page for the current list.
Does the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act clear my title?
No. It changes how courts handle a lawsuit by one co-owner to divide or sell the property. It adds notice, an appraisal and buyout rights for the other relatives. You still need your state’s probate or heirship process to put the property in the heirs’ names.
What’s the easiest way to keep my home from becoming heirs’ property?
Leave a clear plan: a will, a living trust, or, where your state allows it, a transfer-on-death deed. Then make sure your family actually records the transfer after you die.
Why is Puerto Rico so much higher?
Many homes in Puerto Rico were built or passed down informally, without recorded deeds. After Hurricane Maria, legal aid groups pushed FEMA to accept self-declarations. Fiona’s 93% “not verified” rate shows how widespread missing title still is there.
Sources
All data are U.S. government public-domain records or official state legislative/code pages.
Data
- FEMA OpenFEMA, Individuals and Households Program – Valid Registrations (v2). API: https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v2/IndividualsAndHouseholdsProgramValidRegistrations · Dataset page: https://www.fema.gov/openfema-data-page/individuals-and-households-program-valid-registrations-v2 (last full refresh 2026-07-27; queried 2026-10-06)
- FEMA OpenFEMA, Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2): https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v2/DisasterDeclarationsSummaries (filter ihProgramDeclared eq true, declarationDate ≥ 2017-01-01; 283 disasters)
- Field definitions: https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v1/OpenFemaDataSetFields (ownRent, verifiedOwnership, haStatus)
FEMA policy
- FEMA, “Verifying Home Ownership or Occupancy”: https://www.fema.gov/assistance/individual/after-applying/verifying-home-ownership-occupancy (self-declarative statement for heirship, death certificate requirement)
- FEMA bulletin, week of Sept. 7, 2021 (policy applies to disasters declared on or after Aug. 23, 2021): https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDHSFEMA/bulletins/2f031b4
State heirs’ property partition laws (checked 2026-10-06)
Verified on official sites:
- Arizona — A.R.S. Title 12 ch. 27, 12-3401 to 12-3412: https://www.azleg.gov/arsDetail/?title=12
- Arkansas — Act 107 of 2015 (HB1245): https://arkleg.state.ar.us/Bills/Detail?id=HB1245&ddBienniumSession=2015%2F2015R
- Connecticut — Conn. Gen. Stat. ch. 919: https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_919.htm
- District of Columbia — D.C. Code 16-2931 to 16-2941: https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/titles/16/chapters/29
- Florida — Ch. 2020-55 (SB 580): https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2020/580
- Iowa — Iowa Code ch. 651 (heirs property provisions): https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/651.pdf
- Maryland — Real Prop. 14-701 et seq. (SB92/HB777, 2022): https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/SB0092?ys=2022RS
- Michigan — Public Act 215 of 2024 (HB 4924): https://legislature.mi.gov/Bills/Bill?ObjectName=2023-HB-4924
- Mississippi — SB 2553 (2020): https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2020/pdf/history/SB/SB2553.xml
- Missouri — RSMo 528.700–528.750 “Save the Family Farm Act”: https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneChapter.aspx?chapter=528
- Montana — MCA Title 70 ch. 29 part 4: https://leg.mt.gov/bills/mca/title_0700/chapter_0290/part_0040/sections_index.html
- Nevada — NRS ch. 39: https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-039.html
- New Mexico — HB 181 (2017): https://www.nmlegis.gov/Legislation/Legislation?chamber=H&legtype=B&legno=181&year=17
- New York — Ch. 596 of 2019 (S4865-A/A7058-A): https://nyassembly.gov/leg/?default_fld=&leg_video=&bn=A07058&term=2019&Summary=Y&Actions=Y
- South Carolina — Act No. 153 of 2016 (H3325): https://www.scstatehouse.gov/billsearch.php?billnumbers=3325&session=121&summary=B
- Tennessee — Pub. Ch. 1109 of 2022 (SB2167): https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default.aspx?BillNumber=SB2167&GA=112
- Texas — SB 499 (2017), Property Code ch. 23A: https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=85R&Bill=SB499
- Utah — HB 120 (2022): https://le.utah.gov/~2022/bills/static/HB0120.html
- Virginia (partial) — Va. Code 8.01-81.1: https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/8.01-81.1/
Per LegiScan only (official site blocked automated access, is JavaScript-only, or isn’t bill-specific):
- Alabama Act 2014-299 (SB162): https://legiscan.com/AL/bill/SB162/2014
- California Stats. 2021 ch. 119 (AB633): https://legiscan.com/CA/bill/AB633/2021
- Georgia Act 585 of 2012 (HB744): https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB744/2012
- Hawaii Act 260 of 2016 (SB2408): https://legiscan.com/HI/bill/SB2408/2016
- Illinois Public Act 101-0520 (HB3677): https://legiscan.com/IL/bill/HB3677/2019
- New Jersey P.L.2025, c.88 (S1400): https://legiscan.com/NJ/bill/S1400/2024
- Rhode Island S2394/H7210 (2026): https://legiscan.com/RI/bill/S2394/2026
Pending bills: Pennsylvania HB1498 (verified on palegis.us 2026-10-06), SB890; Massachusetts S1239; North Carolina S317/H976; Kentucky SB23; U.S. HR 1640 (HEIRS Act, per LegiScan last action 2026-09-01). LegiScan API: https://legiscan.com/legiscan (data CC BY 4.0, attribution: LegiScan).
Not verified / caveats
- The haStatus and verifiedOwnership fields do not identify heirs’ property directly.
- Alabama, California, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey and Rhode Island partition laws are not yet confirmed on official sites.
Cite this data
Family Estate Guide, “Heirs’ Property and FEMA Disaster Aid: Ownership Problems by State,” October 2026. https://familyestateguide.com/estate-planning-data/heirs-property-disaster-aid/
You’re welcome to reuse the table with a link back to this page. The underlying FEMA data is public domain.
Published October 6, 2026 by Family Estate Guide. Data vintage: OpenFEMA IHP Valid Registrations (dataset refreshed July 27, 2026; queried Oct. 6, 2026); disasters declared Jan. 2017–Oct. 2026; state laws checked Oct. 6, 2026. Editorial standards.