Hereditament

In common law, a hereditament is any kind of property that can be inherited. The word comes from the Latin hereditare, to inherit, from heres, heir. Hereditaments are divided into corporeal and incorporeal. Corporeal hereditaments can be seen and handled, an example being land held in freehold and in leasehold. Incorporeal hereditaments have no physical existence and include hereditary titles of honour or dignity, heritable titles of office, coats of arms, prescriptive baronies, pensions, annuities, rentcharges and franchises. Tithes and advowsons, two categories related to the church, have been abolished in England and Wales and certain other parts of the British Isles. The term featured in the phrase lands, tenements and hereditaments, a catch-all definition now deprecated in contemporary legal documents.