25 U.S.C. § 378 — Partition of allotment among heirs; patents

This section covers what happens to inherited land that is still held in trust for an Indian allottee's heirs. If the Secretary of the Interior decides that inherited trust land can be divided in a way that helps the heirs, the Secretary may split up the land among them. This can happen no matter whether the heirs are "competent" — this section does not define that term here. For heirs who are competent, the Secretary issues them a patent in fee for their share, meaning they get full ownership free of the trust. For heirs who are not competent, the Secretary instead issues a trust patent, covering the land set apart for them individually or jointly. The trust period on that land ends according to the terms already set out in the original patent, or in any order that extended the trust period under that patent.