Definition of "escheat" in Anglais

noun

1. (law) 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. (law) The property so reverted.

3. (obsolete) Plunder, booty.

4. That which falls to one; a reversion or return.

verb

1. (transitive) To put (land, property) in escheat; to confiscate.

2. (intransitive) To revert to a state or lord because its previous owner died without an heir.