ESCHEAT

short version by jacob

escheat All escheats are declared to be strictly feudal, and to import the extinction of tenure.... The
rule [was] that if lands were held in trust and the cestui que trust without heirs, the lands did escheat to
the trustee, being in esse and in the legal seisin of the land, took the land discharged of the trust, and
bound as owner for the feudal services.
Blacks 8th version

escheat (es-cheet), n.1.Hist. The reversion of land ownership back to the lord when the
immediate tenant dies without heirs. See WRIT OF ESCHEAT. 2. Reversion of property (esp. real
property) to the state upon the death of an owner who has neither a will nor any legal heirs. [Cases:
Escheat 18. C.J.S. Escheat 223.] 3. Property that has so reverted. See heirless estate under
ESTATE(3). escheat,vb.
All escheats, under the English law, are declared to be strictly feudal, and to import the
extinction of tenure.... The rule [was] that if lands were held in trust and the cestui que trust
without heirs, the lands did not escheat to the crown, but the trustee, being in esse and in the
legal seisin of the land, took the land discharged of the trust, and bound as owner for the feudal
services.
But as the feudal tenures do not exist in this country, there are no private persons who succeed to the
inheritance by escheat; and the state steps 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 James
Kent, Commentaries on American Law *42324 (George Comstock ed., 11th ed. 1866).
ESCHEAT GRANT
escheat grant. See GRANT.
ESCHEATOR
escheator (es-cheet-<<schwa>>r).Hist. A royal officer appointed to assess the value of
property escheating to the Crown. Corrupt officers led many to associate the escheator with
fraudulent conduct, giving rise to the word cheat as used in the modern sense. Also termed
cheater.
ESCHEAT PATENT
escheat patent. See escheat grant under GRANT.