escheat

es·cheat   (ĭs-chēt')    n.   Reversion of land held under feudal tenure to the manor in the absence of legal heirs or claimants. Law Reversion of property to the state in the absence of legal heirs or claimants. Property that has reverted to the state when no legal heirs or claimants exist. intr. & tr.v.   es·cheat·ed, es·cheat·ing, es·cheats Law To revert or cause to revert by escheat. [Middle English eschete, from Old French (from escheoir, to fall out) and from Anglo-Latin escheta, both from Vulgar Latin *excadēre, to fall out : Latin ex-, ex- + Latin cadere, to fall; see kad- in Indo-European roots.] es·cheat'a·ble adj.

escheat 

Escheat

When property and/or an estate is transferred to the government because a person has died without a will or an heir to his or her estate.

Investopedia Commentary

Transferred property can be claimed back by relatives if they have a worthwhile case.

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See also: Estate, Heir, Inheritance, Will

escheat

The right of the state to claim a deceased person's property when there are no individuals legally qualified to inherit it or to make a claim to it. This occurrence is fairly unusual even when the deceased leaves no will.

Main Entry: es·cheat
Pronunciation: is-'chEt
Function: noun
Etymology: Anglo-French eschete reversion of property, from Old French escheoite accession, inheritance, from feminine past participle of escheoir to fall (to), befall, ultimately from Latin ex- out + cadere to fall
1 : escheated property
2 : the reversion of property to the state upon the death of the owner when there are no heirs

escheat

in feudal English land law, the return or forfeiture to the lord of land held by his tenant. There were generally two conditions by which land would escheat: the death of the tenant without heirs or the conviction of the tenant for a felony. In case of felony, the land would lose its inheritability and escheat to the lord, who would then hold the land subject to the crown's right to exploit the felon's lands for a year and a day. In time, this exploitation right of the crown was commuted in return for a money payment or service rendered to the crown by the lord. In the case of a tenant convicted of high treason, however, his land escheated directly to the crown, and the lord forfeited all rights he had in that tenant's lands completely. The escheat of lands for felony was abolished by statute in England in 1870; and by a statute enacted in 1925, no longer does land escheat to its former owner solely for failure of heirs. In the United States, laws passed in all states provide that land will escheat to the state (county or city) if an owner dies without a valid will and if no heirs can be found. See also attainder.

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