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Doctrine

Escheat

Contract and Property Doctrine
Origin Feudal England, where land reverted to the lord when a tenant died without an heir or committed a felony

Escheat is a common law doctrine that transfers real property to the government when a person dies without heirs, ensuring that property is not left in limbo with no recognized owner. Property escheats to the state when a person dies intestate, meaning without a will, and has no heirs eligible to inherit under the jurisdiction's own inheritance laws. The term comes from the Latin ex-cadere, meaning to fall away, and in feudal England escheat occurred when a tenant of a fief died without an heir or committed a felony, causing the land to revert to the feudal lord; from the reign of Henry III onward the English monarchy took a particular interest in escheat as a source of royal revenue. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Origin Period
Feudal England, where land reverted to the lord when a tenant died without an heir or committed a felony 1
Core Principle
Property is not left in limbo without recognized ownership 1
Origin Period
Origin Period (category)
Medieval / Pre-1500 1
Classification
Doctrine Category
Property Law 2
Connections

In Area Of Law

Property law, Doctrines

In Legal System

Common Law, Legal Systems
Source Escheat (Wikipedia)

Long-Form Articles

Escheat: from feudal reversion to bona vacantia, Articles
Sources
1. Escheat (Wikipedia)
  • Origins in feudalism section
    In feudal England, escheat referred to the situation where the tenant of a fee (or "fief") died without an heir or committed a felony.
  • Introduction, opening paragraph
    It serves to ensure that property is not left in "limbo" without recognized ownership.
  • In Group: Estate in Land, lead paragraph defines the estate reversion
  • In Legal System: Common Law, Wikipedia lead sentence
    Escheat (from Latin excidere 'fall away') is a common law doctrine that transfers the real property of a person who has died without heirs to the gove
View the Source
2. Wikipedia: Escheat
a common law doctrine that transfers the real property of a person who has died without heirs to the governmentView the Source
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