Escheat

escheat

/ɪsˈtʃiːt,ɛsˈtʃiːt/

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HISTORICAL

noun

noun: escheat; plural noun: escheats

1. the reversion of property to the state, or (in feudal law) to a lord, on the owner's dying without legal heirs.

   "the Crown's right of escheat was lost"

   • an item of property affected by escheat.

verb

verb: escheat; 3rd person present: escheats; past tense: escheated; past participle: escheated; gerund or present participle: escheating

1. (of land) revert to a lord or the state by escheat.

   "a private chase which had escheated to the King"

   • hand over (land) as an escheat.

     "the land had been escheated to the crown"

Origin

Middle English: from Old French eschete, based on Latin excidere ‘fall away’, from ex- ‘out of, from’ + cadere ‘to fall’.