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Property appraiser and UF propose heirs‑property clinic to prevent title loss; commissioners back a budget request
Summary
Alachua County property appraiser and Levin College of Law proposed a legal clinic and expanded outreach to prevent heirs‑property loss that risks about $550 million in assessed value; commissioners asked staff to add a budget request and send a letter to the City of Gainesville for partnership.
Precious Polycarp of the Property Appraiser’s Office briefed the board on an heirs‑property and probate outreach initiative that has mapped hotspots across the county and run multiple community summits; staff estimate nearly $550 million in parcel value is at risk from heirs‑property status and there are roughly 1,400 deceased co‑owner cases and about 1,700 parcels flagged as heirs property as of 2024. Polycarp described increased turnout at summits and plans to add workshop components to guide residents through practical steps (family trees, which offices to contact, paperwork preparation) and make it easier to enter probate or summary procedures.
Danae Wright, director of the Levin College of Law’s Center for Governmental Responsibility, proposed a formally staffed heirs‑property and estate‑planning clinic at the law school that would supervise students and deliver direct legal services and pre‑work for higher‑level nonprofit partners such as 3 Rivers Legal Services. Wright estimated the cost to the county (after law‑school matches) at roughly $80,000–$100,000 to hire a clinic director and deliver initial services, and about $180,000 annually to run and sustain the program until other funding sources are secured. She outlined anticipated outputs: several complex probates per year, summary administrations, background title work to prepare cases for legal services providers, and student internships.
Commissioners praised the interagency collaboration among the property appraiser, tax collector, clerk, 3 Rivers, and UF law and asked staff to include the request as a budget item and to send a chair letter to the City of Gainesville asking for partner funding. Commissioners noted the program’s potential to preserve affordable housing and generational wealth and to be a model that other counties could replicate.
Next steps: staff to treat the clinic as a budget request during upcoming budget deliberations and to pursue potential CAP/ARPA or other funding sources and partnerships with City of Gainesville and legal partners.
