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Escheat

/əsˈt͡ʃiːt/

The return of property of a deceased person to the state (originally to a feudal lord) where there are no legal heirs or claimants.

Full Dictionary Entry

📖 Definitions of "Escheat"

noun

1
The return of property of a deceased person to the state (originally to a feudal lord) where there are no legal heirs or claimants.
2
The property so reverted.
3
Plunder, booty.
4
That which falls to one; a reversion or return.

verb

1
To put (land, property) in escheat; to confiscate.
2
To revert to a state or lord because its previous owner died without an heir.

💡 Words with a Similar Meaning to "Escheat"

Found via reverse dictionary — words that share a conceptual meaning.

Word	Definition
confiscateverb	(transitive) To use one's authority to lay claim to and separate a possession from its holder.
escheatmentnoun	(law) The process of transferring unclaimed or abandoned property to a state authority, especially when a person dies intestate.
escheatagenoun	The right of succeeding to an escheat.
residuenoun	That which persists or remains following the removal or elimination of other elements.
estate salenoun	The sale of a person's possessions after their death, normally formalised by the executor of the estate.
bequestnoun	That which is left by will; a legacy.
retournoun	A returning.
ademptionnoun	(law) In the law of wills, the determination of what happens when property left under a will is no longer in the testator's estate when the testator dies.
heir-at-lawnoun	(law) A person legally entitled to inherit the property of someone who dies intestate.
demisenoun	(countable) Death; decease.
reversionnoun	The action of returning to a former condition or practice.
dead's partnoun	(law, historical, Scotland) The part of a man's movable property which he may bequeath by will, and which is not due to wife and children.
assetsnoun	(finance) Any property or object of value that one possesses, usually considered as applicable to the payment of one's debts.
remaindershipnoun	The right to inherit land or title when the current possessor of that land or title dies without an heir.
nonentrynoun	(Scots law, historical) The casualty or advantage which formerly fell to the superior when the heir of a deceased vassal failed to renew the investiture, the superior being then entitled to the rent of the feu.
ejectmentnoun	(law) The legal process of ejecting someone from their property or holdings.
residuumnoun	The residue, remainder or rest of something.
remaindernoun	A part or parts remaining after some has/have been removed or already occurred.
inheritancenoun	The passing of title to an estate upon death.
ultimus haeresnoun	(Scots law) The process whereby the estate of a deceased person with no will or traceable blood relatives goes to the Crown.