(Copyright 2006 by Bluffton Today) By Bruce Smith - Associated Press Writer - Hilton Head Island
The land is beautiful, and valuable: 21 acres on Hilton Head Island, along a creek with vistas of sunsets and docks where shrimp boats tie up. Matthew Jones paid $225 for this parcel — a pittance now, but a fortune for a former slave in the 1880s. And through the years, through the generations, the land only grew in value, until Jones' descendants were sitting on a gold mine. But would they be able to keep it? Or would divisions in the family force them to sell, perhaps for less than they might earn otherwise? Many black families have lost their land under similar circumstances, through partition sales ordered by courts. But it appears this will not happen to the Jones parcel. With the help of a South Carolina corporation, Matthew Jones' 180 heirs have formed a limited liability corporation to develop their property. Gateway Development plans to help them build a 26-unit condominium complex with tennis courts on the land their forefather bought. The Hilton Head property, if sold outright, could fetch $4.5 million. "By developing it, the income would be $16 million, and they will retain the heritage of the land," said A.D. Brown, a developer who is Jones' great-great-grandson. He is president of Gateway and the Jones Family LLC. The Jones parcel is heirs' property — land that has passed down through a family for years without a will. After generations, dozens or scores of descendants may have a claim to it. With no clear title, any heir can seek his or her share of the value of the property. Since the land can't be split into dozens of pieces, judges often order the sale of the entire parcel and split the proceeds. Sometimes third parties such as developers buy an interest from a single heir and then take the others to court to force such a sale. South Carolina has passed a new law that gives family members the right of first refusal to buy out their relatives' interests if they are pressing to sell. The land is appraised, and they are given 45 days to pay fair market value. While other owners of heirs' property have formed limited liability corporations, Jennie Stephens, executive director of the Center for Heirs' Property Preservation, says she knows of no other development firms working with heirs as does Gateway . The company has helped create similar corporations for about eight other heirs' families, Jones said. Among the developments that have resulted are a 36-unit condo complex on Hilton Head and a planned 49-unit single-family subdivision in Bluffton. Many heirs think "let's do nothing and we'll hold onto the property," Brown said.

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AP Photo A.D. Brown, a developer and president of the Jones Family LLC, gestures as he talks about development plans for his great-great-grandfather's 21 acres of land on Hilton Head Island.