Lowcountry Legal Volunteers granted money to help people with wills and heirs’ property issues

BEAUFORT COUNTY, S.C. (WTOC) - Passing down property to the next generation is important for a lot of families in the Lowcountry.

However, some have run into issues legally protecting their land because they don’t have the necessary paperwork to show ownership.

Now, thanks to some funding, there will be a resource to help.

That funding was awarded to Lowcountry Legal Volunteers by the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta on Tuesday, administered through South Atlantic Bank.

It will help deliver 225 wills and heirs’ property education and prevention services across Beaufort, Jasper, and Hampton counties.

“What we want to do is empower people with knowledge, with the information, with the tools, and free legal resources that they so desperately need to save their family land,” Executive Director of Lowcountry Legal Volunteers, Anne Caywood, said.

One of the groups this grant aims to help are people in the Gullah Geechee community.

Some have heirs’ property or land given without a clear will or title.

In the past, they’ve run into problems like a lack of documentation to show ownership or issues with their title.

“We want to create solutions for folks so that these heirs’ property issues will never touch that family land, and it will go on for generations to come,” Caywood said.

The Gullah people have been fighting with developers for years in the Lowcountry.

Developers have been trying to build on land that the Gullah culture holds near and dear to their hearts.

“When the land goes, the people go, and when the people go, the culture goes,” Founder of Lowcountry Gullah Foundation, Luana Graves Selllars said. “That’s why it’s so vitally important to hold onto what’s left.”

With this new source of funding, LLV hopes to prepare people for situations like that or if other heirs’ property issues arise.

“It is vitally important for us to stop that cycle and make sure that people can take what they have, where they are, and move it forward to future generations.”

If you are interested in using this resource, you can contact Lowcountry Legal Volunteers by calling their office at (843) 815-1570 or visiting their website.

The project will continue through September 2026, offering estate planning clinics, one-on-one consultations, and community outreach events focused on legal education and prevention.