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Committee adopts amendment and reports Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act, HB1498, 23-2-3
Summary
House Bill 1498, modeled on the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act, was amended to remove a separate right-of-first-refusal section and was reported as amended by the Housing & Community Development Committee; sponsors said the bill establishes a clearer procedure for partition actions and has been adopted in many other states.
House Bill 1498, establishing a statewide version of the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act, was amended in committee to remove a stand-alone right-of-first-refusal section and was reported as amended by a vote the clerk announced as 23-2-3.
Committee staff member Jim described Amendment A00780 as removing the right-of-first-refusal section and correcting a technical typo. Representative Raab, the bill's prime sponsor, said the measure "sets out the procedure and the road map very clearly so that the parties know exactly what road they will travel before they come into court," and argued the clear statutory framework reduces uncertain court outcomes and can help families resolve disputes without forced sales.
Representative Bonner joined Raab as co-prime sponsor and said similar legislation has been enacted in other states. Representative Raab noted that the Uniform Law Commission and experts such as Jane Strinecki and Professor Thomas Mitchell of Boston College Law School helped develop and vet the model across nearly two dozen states since 2011. He said the statute's adoption elsewhere has reduced sales of heirs property at auction and preserved family wealth in affected jurisdictions.
A committee member raised concerns about the amendment's removal of the right of first refusal; members then clarified that the bill's framework effectively provides a mechanism for that interest, and the sponsors said the change reflected that structure. The clerk called the roll on the amendment and announced, "The amendment is adopted, 23 2 3." The subsequent vote on the bill as amended was announced as reported 23 2 3.
Sponsors noted the bill targets scenarios in which people die without wills and heirs hold unclear or fractured title interests; Representative Raab cited rural counties with high rates of heirs-property problems and said nearly "$1,000,000,000 of inaccessible equity" exists across the commonwealth as a reason to adopt uniform procedures. Representative Raab also acknowledged Senator Camara Bartolotta will introduce companion legislation in the Senate.
The transcript shows the committee adopted the amendment and reported HB1498 as amended; no further committee-level implementation tasks or effective dates for the statute were recorded in the discussion.
