the reverting of land to a king or lord in certain cases, early 14c., from Anglo-French eschete (late 13c.), from Old French eschete "succession, inheritance," originally fem. past participle of escheoir, from Late Latin *excadere "to fall out," from Latin ex- "out, away" (see ex-) + cadere "to fall" (see case (n.1)). As a verb, from late 14c. Related: Escheated; escheating.
in feudal English land law, the return or forfeiture to the lord of land held by his tenant. There were generally two conditions by which land would escheat: the death of the tenant without heirs or the conviction of the tenant for a felony. In case of felony, the land would lose its inheritability and escheat to the lord, who would then hold the land subject to the crown's right to exploit the felon's lands for a year and a day. In time, this exploitation right of the crown was commuted in return for a money payment or service rendered to the crown by the lord. In the case of a tenant convicted of high treason, however, his land escheated directly to the crown, and the lord forfeited all rights he had in that tenant's lands completely. The escheat of lands for felony was abolished by statute in England in 1870; and by a statute enacted in 1925, no longer does land escheat to its former owner solely for failure of heirs. In the United States, laws passed in all states provide that land will escheat to the state (county or city) if an owner dies without a valid will and if no heirs can be found. See also attainder.