escheat
/ɪsˈtʃit/
verb
- To revert or cause to revert property to the state because the owner died without heirs.
- Properties that escheat are often sold at public auction.
- If no heirs come forward, the estate will escheat to the government.
- The court ruled that the land should escheat to the crown.
Synonyms
noun
- The reversion of property to the state when a person dies without a will and without legal heirs.
- When the old man died with no relatives, his house went to the state by escheat.
- The lawyer explained that escheat prevents property from being ownerless.
- Under the law of escheat, the government claimed the abandoned land.