Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🏛️ State takes property 🏛️ To give to state
to escheat

to escheat

1 9.9
To go to the state when someone dies without a will or heirs
  • verb
  • /ɪsˈtʃit/
  • Formal
: escheatar
  • If someone passes away without a will, their estate may escheat to the state if no relatives can be found.

Examples

  • Further, most states have an escheat law which commands that in any situation where life insurance proceeds are unclaimed for a certain period of time, they escheat to the state.

    Blog text (21)

  • Some of those sales may have involved estates that had escheated to the state, thus making the state the owner of the decedent's property, including any slaves.

    Academic text (2018)

  • In cases where there are no heirs, the property will escheat to the state after a designated period.

  • The local government is required to escheat any unclaimed assets to ensure they are properly managed.

Surface Forms

escheat infinitive
escheated past
escheated past participle
escheating present participle
escheats third person singular

Etymology

The verb escheat comes from the old French verb escheoir, meaning 'to fall'. So to escheat is for property to 'fall' back to the state or government when there are no legal heirs or claimants.