What is escheat?

The doctrine of escheat is a law in real property that was devised to ensure that a real property is not left ownerless in the absence of legal heirs or in the event when a legal interest in property was destroyed by an operation of law.

Legal property

Legal property

In such events, the title of the property will be reverted back to the original grantor or owner. Under the common law, there are two ways by which an escheat could happen:

The owner is convicted of felony. In this case, the heirs of the owner will not be made legible to inherit the property.

The owner without a will and has no other heir to receive the land. When there is nobody to receive the land, its ownership will be reverted back to the immediate feudal lord or be transferred to the government.