Escheat is an obstruction of the course of descent and the consequent reversion of property to the original grantor. At common law there were two main ways this could happen. // Use of the term The concept of property or ownership has no single or universally accepted definition. ... This article concerns the common-law legal system, as contrasted with the civil law legal system; for other meanings of the term, within the field of law, see common law (disambiguation). ...

• If you were convicted of a felony, in English law, your property was forfeit to the Crown upon conviction. If you were executed for the crime, your heirs were ineligible to inherit it from you. Avoiding this result is the chief import of the passage in Article 3 § 3 of the United States Constitution which states that attainders for treason do not give rise to forfeiture or "corruption of blood."
• If you have no heirs to receive your property by the laws of intestacy, however they may operate in your locality, any property you leave at death is forfeit to the government. This result can be avoided if the decedent makes a will, although theoretically if none of your will beneficiaries come forward to claim their bequests then an escheat may nevertheless occur.

In English law, the doctrine of escheat has been replaced in most cases by bona vacantia, so that property owned by an intestate deceased with no living heirs passes into the ownership of the Crown without an escheat taking place. Similary where a corporation is dissolved any property belonging to that corporation passes as bona vacantia. A felony, in many common law legal systems, is the term for a very serious crime; misdemeanors are considered to be less serious. ... Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area  - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 1st UK 49,138,831 377/km² Ethnicity... Page I of the Constitution of the United States of America Page II of the United States Constitution Page III of the United States Constitution Page IV of the United States Constitution The Syng inkstand, with which the Constitution was signed The Constitution of the United States is the supreme... A bill of attainder (or act of attainder) was an act of legislature declaring a person or group of persons guilty of some crime, and punishing them, without benefit of a trial. ... In law, treason is the crime of disloyalty to ones nation. ... For other uses, see inheritance (disambiguation). ... Intestacy refers to the body of common law that determines who is entitled to the property of a dead person in the absence of a last will and testament or other binding declaration. ... In the law, a will or testament is a documentary instrument by which a person (the testator) regulates the rights of others over the testators property or family after their death. ... English law, the law of England and Wales (but not Scotland and Northern Ireland), also known generally as the common law (as opposed to civil law), was exported to Commonwealth countries while the British Empire was established and maintained, and persisted after the British withdrew or were expelled, to form... Bona vacantia (Latin, meaning vacant goods) is a doctrine of the common law in England under which ownerless property passes by law to the Crown. ... The Crown is a term which is used to separate the government authority and property of the state in a kingdom from any personal influence and private assets held by the current Monarch. ...

Escheat can still occur if, after property has passed on an insolvency or bankruptcy, to the Crown the Official Solicitor disclaims the property. This is very common (affecting a few hundred properties a year) where freehold property passes bona vacantia but is encumbered by onerous leasehold properties. The disclaimer of the Official Solicitor destroys the freehold, so that the land ceases to have a freehold estate and becomes land held by the Crown in demesne. Official Solicitor is a term which relates to two different and relatively old offices of British government. ... Estate may have a number of meanings: Estate is a term used in common law to signify the total of a persons property, entitlements and obligations. ... The feudal concept of demesne is a form of manorial land tenure as conceived in Western Europe, initially in France but exported to England, during the Middle Ages. ...

Until the Land Registration Act 2002 this meant that the land would cease to be registered land, acting as a slow leak of property out of registration.

Escheat can also occur when an entity (such as a bank) holds money or property (such as an account in that bank) and the property goes unclaimed. In many jurisdictions, if the owner cannot be located, such property can be revocably escheated to the government.

Feudalism

In terms of Feudalism in England, escheat was when the tenant of a fief died without an heir or committed a felony. The fief reverted back to ownership of the King for one year and one day (by right of primer seisin, since all property belonged to the King in a Feudal system), after which it reverted back to the original lord who had granted it. The king took particular interest in this as a source of revenue starting with Henry III. Defining feudalism is difficult because there is no generally accepted agreement on what it means. ... Under the system of feudalism, a fiefdom, fief, feud or fee, consisted of heritable lands or revenue-producing property granted by a liege lord in return for a vassal knights service (usually fealty, military service, and security). ... Rulers with the title Henry III include: Henry III of Champagne Henry III of England Henry III of France Henry III of Germany (later Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor) Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor Henry III of Navarre (later Henry IV of France) Henry III, Duke of Saxony (Henry the...

From the 12th century onward the crown paved the way for escheators (those who managed escheats), with one escheator per county established by the middle of the 14th century. Escheators reported to the Exchequer. Upon learning the death of a tenant the escheator would hold an "inquisition" to learn if the king had any rights to the land, and if there was any doubt the escheator would seize the land and refer the case to Westminster where it would be settled, ensuring that not one day's revenue would be lost. This would be a source of concern with land owners when there were delays from Westminster. The Exchequer was that part of the government responsible for the management and collection of the royal revenues of the King of England. ... Westminster is the area located immediately to the west of the ancient City of London, in the centre of the wider conurbation of London. ...

References

• S.T. Gibson, "The Escheatries, 1327-1341", English Historical Review, 36(1921).
• John Bean, The Decline of English Feudalism, 1215-1540, 1968.