escheat
/is'tʃi:t/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Noun:
- The property that reverts to the state: The assets, land, or estate that legally transfers to the government or crown when a person dies without a will (intestate) and without any legal heirs or claimants.
- A reversion to the state: The legal process or doctrine itself by which such property passes to the state as the ultimate owner.
Examples of Usage
- Noun:
- After a long search for relatives proved fruitless, the old man's estate was declared an escheat and passed to the state.
- The law of escheat ensures that property does not remain ownerless.
Advanced Usage
- "To escheat to": This verb form describes the action of property reverting to the state.
- If no heir is found, the land will escheat to the Crown.
- "Subject to escheat": A legal phrase describing property that is liable to revert to the state under these conditions.
- Unclaimed bank accounts may become subject to escheat after a statutory period.
Variants and Related Words
- Escheatable (adj): Describing property that is liable to escheat.
- The court determined the assets were escheatable.
- Escheatage (n): An archaic term for the right of the sovereign to receive escheated property.
Synonyms
- Forfeiture: The loss of property or a right as a penalty. (Note: Escheat is a specific type of forfeiture due to lack of heirs, not a penalty.)
- Reversion: The return of an estate to the grantor or their heirs. (Note: Escheat is a reversion specifically to the state.)
Related Phrases
- Bona vacantia: A related legal concept (Latin for "ownerless goods") referring to property with no obvious owner, which may also pass to the state. Escheat is often a category within laws.
- Intestate succession: The legal process of distributing the estate of someone who dies without a will. Escheat occurs when this process exhausts all possible heirs.
Noun
- the property that reverts to the state
- a reversion to the state (as the ultimate owner of property) in the absence of legal heirs