Organization Highlight: Clear Landing

Clear Landing: A New Approach for Protecting Sweet Home in Alabama

By Jacy Fisher, Esq. & Dr. Ryan Thomson

In the South, the quiet loss of family land continues to erode wealth, security, and memory, especially for low-income families. Heirs’ property, or land passed down without an effective will or estate plan in place, produces fractionated ownership and a clouded title. That uncertainty prevents families from accessing loans, assistance programs, home repairs, or even basic property insurance. HAC’s December 2023 study in collaboration with Fannie Mae identified Alabama as having many of the densest concentrations of heirs’ property in the country. The problem is rampant across the state, particularly in communities where these barriers to wealth generation have compounded for decades. The implications of a clouded title are felt acutely yet rarely addressed. Families are left navigating a legal system that was never designed to recognize their relationships or protect their land.

Clear Landing was founded to change that. We are a non-profit technical assistance and legal services provider that equips families with the tools needed to secure and maintain ownership of their land. We specialize in title analysis, heirs’ property resolution, and estate planning to prevent heirs’ property. In our first four months of activity, Clear Landing has begun clearing title to 282 acres of land across five Alabama counties, representing approximately $2.56 million in preserved family assets. We have drafted 34 estate plans, including Last Wills and Testaments and Life Estate Deeds, and have worked with dozens of other families working to map their family trees.

What makes our model different is its foundation: every case begins with a full chain-of-title review conducted by an experienced attorney, followed by a written title opinion and a step-by-step resolution plan. This is not a typical intake clinic or a one-size-fits-all process. Instead, we offer the technical infrastructure and sustained legal guidance that heirs’ property demands. By integrating outreach education with personalized legal services, we have established several key partnerships in frontline communities where land is deeply valued and frequently at risk.

Filling Gaps in the Deep South Legal Ecosystem

While Alabama has several exceptional nonprofit and legal service organizations, none have historically focused exclusively on heirs’ property resolution statewide. Clear Landing was established to close two critical gaps in Alabama’s support ecosystem. First, although pro bono providers are essential access-to-justice partners, many lack the specialized staffing, time, or resources to conduct the in-depth title research and comprehensive family-land planning that heirs’ property cases require. As a result, families too often receive only partial answers, leaving issues like clouded title, undefined ownership interests, dormant liens, tax defaults, or potential adverse possession claims unaddressed. Without a deeper assessment, families remain vulnerable to land loss and are unable to leverage their property to build generational wealth.

Second, private attorneys with the expertise to resolve these issues are often excluded from public and philanthropic funding streams. Even when a private lawyer is willing to take on an heirs’ property case, many families cannot afford the five-figure fees often required to clear a clouded title. Many are denied legal services altogether because their land counts as an “asset,” which disqualifies them from income-tested aid. Clear Landing was formed to serve these “in-between” families: too land-rich to qualify for help, too cash-poor to hire counsel. Our non-profit structure allows grant funding to support attorney-led services. Our model combines the strengths of private legal infrastructure with the accessibility of nonprofit services, ensuring comprehensive title services reach those who need them most.

What We Do

Comprehensive title analysis is the heart of Clear Landing’s work. We begin with a full title review, which includes searching historical land records, mapping family ownership across generations, and identifying missing heirs or defects in the chain of title. This work culminates in a formal, written title opinion drafted by our lead attorney. We then create a strategic plan for resolution. These personalized roadmaps might include recommended probate actions, heirship affidavits, corrective deeds, intra-family buyouts, surveys, or quiet title litigation. We provide referrals when necessary, but in many cases, we handle document preparation and coordination directly.

To ensure that land secured today remains protected for generations to come, Clear Landing pairs resolution with long-term prevention. We offer comprehensive estate planning services (including wills, trusts, and life-estate deeds) designed to keep property titled correctly and empower families to make informed decisions over time. We also deliver accessible education statewide, providing workshops that explain the basics of heirs’ property, what happens when someone passes without a will, and the step-by-step process of clearing title. A hallmark of our model is that every participant receives individualized legal triage with our team, giving families a clear understanding of their specific situation and a path forward.

Who We Are

Clear Landing brings together lawyers, organizers, and scholars to meet families where they are by providing direct services that are both technically strong and community grounded. Our unique team grew out of the Southern Rural Development Center’s (SRDC) Heirs’ Property Train-the-Trainer Program. At the head of our team is Jacy Fisher, Esq. Jacy is a Partner at Gregory Varner & Associates and one of Alabama’s foremost practitioners in heirs’ property and partition law. She has significant experience litigating under the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act (UPHPA) and regularly trains fellow professionals across the country. Dr. Ryan Thomson, a Rural Sociologist at Auburn University, serves as President, focusing on forming partnerships and facilitating family intake and screening. We are supported by our board, comprised of Francine Miller, Senior Staff Attorney at Vermont Law and Graduate School; Dr. Kara Woods, Research Analyst at Alcorn State University’s National Policy Center; and Dr. Portia Johnson, Extension Professor at Auburn University. We rely heavily on Greg Varner and Associates for legal services and support staff. Beyond our core team, we collaborate with community organizations such as Legal Services Alabama, ACROSS Alabama, and Neighborhood Housing Services Birmingham.

Our Model in Action

With support from the FHLBank Atlanta Family Wealth Protection Fund, Clear Landing has developed a replicable, attorney-led model for resolving heirs’ property. The Fund allows us to serve families in designated low-to-moderate-income census tracts, expanding beyond traditional legal aid income caps. As one of only 21 grantees across the Southeast under this new program, Clear Landing is now contributing to a broader regional strategy for land retention and wealth preservation.

Our early outcomes are already demonstrating the power of timely, specialized support. Since launch, Clear Landing has helped families secure clear title to farms, homesteads, and even small urban parcels, unlocking opportunities that had long been out of reach, such as home repair funding, affordable insurance, and the ability to confidently pass land to future generations. In one rural county, three siblings who inherited 140 acres after their mother’s passing were finally able to partition the land in-kind, giving each of them recorded title to the property they had cared for their entire lives. In another matter, a woman was able to buy out distant heirs and secure clear title to the 14 acres where she was raised, transforming uncertainty into lasting ownership and stability for her family.

Looking Ahead

Clear Landing has exceeded all of our annual targets multiple times; our primary challenge now is sustaining productivity without burning out. Our first priority for 2026 is securing additional resources, including sustained funding and expanding our technical tools, to enable us to serve more families without compromising the depth of our legal work. Second, we are also committed to expanding Continuing Legal Education (CLE) offerings with the Alabama State Bar, equipping more practitioners across Alabama with the skills and confidence to handle heirs’ property cases. Finally, we are seeking to develop new take-home decision tools and family-friendly planning packets tailored to large multigenerational families struggling with complex inheritance issues.

Clear Landing’s vision is to build the needed legal infrastructure to ensure that Alabama landowners can retain and protect their family property.  Our mission is not only to resolve title problems but also to change the conditions that allow them to persist.  By pairing legal precision with grassroots trust, Clear Landing offers a new model for Alabama: one that centers family ownership, community stability, and long-term clarity. We believe that every acre of family land matters. Every heir deserves to know where they stand. Every community deserves the legal tools to protect what they have built.

Opportunities to Collaborate or Support

• Donate to the work. https://www.clearlanding.org/donate
• Media or Funding inquires; please contact info@clearlanding.org.