Escheat is a common law doctrine by which the
property of a person who dies without heirs is transferred to the crown or
state, ensuring that property is not left without recognized ownership.
In feudal England, escheat applied when the tenant-in-chief (vassal-in-chief)
of a fee, or "fief" (an ownership of rights over an estate in land,
rather than ownership of the land itself):
a) died without an heir, or
b) was convicted of a felony.
In the first case, the fee reverted permanently to the
King's demesne, becoming a mere tenantless plot of land. However, enfeoffment
to another of the king's followers converted the property back to a fee.
Magna Carta concession concerning escheats > .
Enfeoffment, or feoffment the deed by which a person was
given land in exchange for a pledge of service. In English law, feoffment conferred
to the new holder the right to sell the land or property or to pass it on to
his heirs as an inheritance. Thus, enfeoffment involved the total
relinquishment and transfer of all rights of ownership of an estate in land
from one individual to another. In feudal England a feoffment could only be
made of a fee (or "fief"), the only true owner of which was the
monarch under his allodial title (beginning with William the Conqueror the monarch had no overlord, and thus, by virtue of occupancy and defense, owned the land).
When the deceased had been subinfeudated by a tenant-in-chief,
the fee reverted temporarily to the crown for one year and one day by right of
primer seisin after which it escheated to the over-lord (grantor of the
enfeoffment). Escheat provided a source of revenue to the monarchy after the
time of Henry III (1207-1272).
Beginning in the 12th century, the Crown appointed escheators
to manage escheats and report to the Exchequer. By mid-14th century,
one escheator was appointed per county.
“Upon the death of a tenant-in-chief, the escheator would be instructed by a writ of diem clausit extremum ("he has closed his last day", i.e. he is dead) issued by the king's chancery, to empanel a jury to hold an "inquisition post mortem" to ascertain who the legal heir was, if any, and what was the extent of the land held. Thus it would be revealed whether the king had any rights to the land. It was also important for the king to know who the heir was, and to assess his personal qualities, since he would thenceforth form a constituent part of the royal army, if he held under military tenure. If there was any doubt, the escheator would seize the land and refer the case to the king's court where it would be settled, ensuring that not one day's revenue would be lost. This would be a source of concern with land-holders when there were delays from the court.” [source]
