Escheat

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Escheat \Es*cheat"\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Esheated}; p. pr. &
     vb. n. {Escheating}.] (Law)
     To revert, or become forfeited, to the lord, the crown, or
     the State, as lands by the failure of persons entitled to
     hold the same, or by forfeiture.
     [1913 Webster]


  
     Note: In this country it is the general rule that when the
           title to land fails by defect of heirs or devisees, it
           necessarily escheats to the State; but forfeiture of
           estate from crime is hardly known in this country, and
           corruption of blood is universally abolished. --Kent.
           Bouvier.
           [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Escheat \Es*cheat"\, n. [OE. eschete, escheyte, an escheat, fr.
     OF. escheit, escheoit, escheeite, esheoite, fr. escheoir (F.
     ['e]choir) to fall to, fall to the lot of; pref. es- (L. ex)
     + cheoir, F. choir, to fall, fr. L. cadere. See {Chance}, and
     cf. {Cheat}.]
     1. (Law)
        (a) (Feud. & Eng. Law) The falling back or reversion of
            lands, by some casualty or accident, to the lord of
            the fee, in consequence of the extinction of the blood
            of the tenant, which may happen by his dying without
            heirs, and formerly might happen by corruption of
            blood, that is, by reason of a felony or attainder.
            --Tomlins. --Blackstone.
        (b) (U. S. Law) The reverting of real property to the
            State, as original and ultimate proprietor, by reason
            of a failure of persons legally entitled to hold the
            same.
            [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: A distinction is carefully made, by English writers,
           between escheat to the lord of the fee and forfeiture
           to the crown. But in this country, where the State
           holds the place of chief lord of the fee, and is
           entitled to take alike escheat and by forfeiture, this
           distinction is not essential. --Tomlins. Kent.
        (c) A writ, now abolished, to recover escheats from the
            person in possession. --Blackstone.
            [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Lands which fall to the lord or the State by escheat.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. That which falls to one; a reversion or return
        [1913 Webster]
  
              To make me great by others' loss is bad escheat.
                                                    --Spenser.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Escheat \Es*cheat"\, v. t. (Law)
     To forfeit. --Bp. Hall.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  escheat
       n 1: a reversion to the state (as the ultimate owner of property)
            in the absence of legal heirs
       2: the property that reverts to the state

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  ESCHEAT, title to lands. According to the English law, escheat denotes an 
  obstruction of the course of descent, and a consequent determination of the 
  tenure, by some unforeseen contingency; in which case the land naturally 
  results back, by a kind of reversion, to the original grantor, or lord of 
  the fee.. 2 Bl. Com. 244. 
       2. All escheats, under the English law, are declared to be strictly 
  feudal, and to import the extinction of tenure. Wright on Ten. 115 to 117; 1 
  Wm. Bl. R. 123. 
       3. But as the feudal tenures do not exist in this country, there are no 
  private persons who succeed to the inheritance by escheat. The state steps 
  in, in the place of the feudal lord, by virtue of its sovereignty, as the 
  original and ultimate proprietor of all the lands within its jurisdiction. 4 
  Kent, Com. 420. It seems to be the universal rule of civilized society, that 
  when the deceased owner has left no heirs, it should vest in the public, and 
  be at the disposal of the government. Code, 10, 10, 1; Domat, Droit Pub. 
  liv. 1, t. 6, s. 3, n. 1. Vide 10 Vin. Ab. 139; 1 Bro. Civ. Law, 250; 1 
  Swift's Dig. 156; 2 Tuck. Blacks. 244, 245, n.; 5 Binn. R. 375; 3 Dane's Ab. 
  140, sect. 24; Jones on Land Office Titles in Penna. 5, 6, 93. For the rules 
  of the Roman Civil Law, see Code Justinian, book 10.