Inaugural Urban Growers Program Demonstrates Early Long-Term Impacts for Urban Producers

The most recent will clinic and associated heirs’ property services were supported through a grant sponsored by Alcorn State University, which concluded in September 2025. Community assessments continue to demonstrate a significant and ongoing need to address heirs’ property, estate planning, and land retention challenges in both rural and urban Kentucky. The results from our Train the Trainer program are below:

As a result of the Understanding Heirs’ Property at the Community Level program, approximately 45 Extension personnel from 41 counties—representing 34% of Kentucky’s counties—were trained on the overview, prevention, and resolution of heirs’ property issues. These trained professionals subsequently delivered regional and local workshops that reached more than 352 community members across the state. As a direct outcome, over 244 individuals pursued wills during or following program participation. We can estimate that if the average cost of a simple will is $300, then the project saved stakeholders $73,200.

During an Heirs’ Property Workshop at the 2025 Small Farmers’ Conference, a community needs assessment was administered to evaluate demand for additional programming and funding related to heirs’ property, estate planning, and succession planning. The survey was also distributed internally to Extension personnel at Kentucky State University to capture additional perspectives. Selected findings are presented in the graphs below.

Survey responses indicate that program participants were primarily concentrated in Madison, Jefferson, Franklin, Fayette, and Boone Counties. Among respondents, 87% reported interest in addressing title issues associated with fractional ownership in heirs’ property, and 95% expressed a desire for additional estate planning or will workshops, demonstrating strong demand for continued services.

Feedback from trained Extension personnel further confirms the ongoing need for programming of this scale and scope to address existing heirs’ property challenges and prevent future occurrences through proactive estate and succession planning.