An 84-year-old woman, Corine Woodson, in Alabama, is facing booted from the home, where she has lived for 60 years.
This unsettling situation has arisen as relatives and investors have initiated the sale of her 40-acre farm, which could be worth $20 million, to potential developers.
Corine Woodson is faced with selling the home when a developer recently acquired 49 percent of the sharecropper farm from other family members, making the sale of the entire property imminent.
The roots of this predicament trace back over a century when Woodson's husband's family acquired the 40.7-acre swathe of woods.
The property, once a humble sharecropper farm, has now transformed into prime real estate due to the city's rapid growth.
However, the passing of the original owner left the property to his children or their heirs, resulting in numerous claimants to ownership. The ensuing decades have been marked by internal family disputes over the land.
As the property is surrounded by burgeoning luxury housing developments, the family's prolonged ownership saga appears to be reaching its conclusion with the impending sale.
According to WTM, Woodsen said: “I would like to ask them why. You know, why, but I don’t. I can’t figure it out. Thinking about it, wondering about it. It’s not easy. I can tell you that."
Woodson's connection to the land is deeply rooted in her late husband's family history.
Accroding to Woodson, she came to live on the land through her late husband. The land was initially purchased by his father in the early 1900s and subsequently passed down through multiple generations.
Between 2002 and 2004, the land was valued at $1.2 million. However, the value has experienced a remarkable surge over the years, now potentially reaching $20 million.
Due to the rich landowners moving in and the area developing into a college town thanks to the presence of nearby Auburn University. So, the price of the farm could be up to $20 million based on other property sales in the area.
The unique challenge in this situation arises from the land's structure, which is not subdivided into parcels but is collectively owned by multiple individuals through a 'tenants in common' arrangement. When one owner wants to sell it, everyone must sell
The family embroiled in this dispute comprises 23 great-grandchildren of the original landowner, and their protracted disagreements over the property, including legal battles and allegations of deception, have spanned several decades.
The complexity intensifies as the family awaits a court-ordered appraisal that may enable a company to acquire the entire contested property.
The passing of Willie Woodson, Corine Woodson's husband of more than 50 years, further complicates the ownership dynamics. With the determination that the land cannot be equally divided, the company may gain the opportunity to purchase the entire property.
Despite claims that Willie Woodson did not express a desire to buy the entire tract, this contention is currently preventing Corine Woodson from pursuing the same opportunity.
The intricate legal landscape surrounding this case adds another layer of complexity to an already convoluted family dispute.
Woodson's daughter Melissa said: “It was determined already that the land cannot be equally divided,”
“That is how he has the opportunity to buy all of it, and since they’re saying that my dad didn’t say that he wanted to buy all of it, they’re not allowing my mom the opportunity to do so". She added.
