Definition of escheat

Blacks Law Dictionary defines escheat as:

1. The reversion of land ownership back to the lord when the immediate
tenant dies without heirs.

2. Reversion of property (especially real property) to the state upon the

death of an owner who has neither a will nor any legal heirs.

3. Property that has so reverted.

Thus we see that Doctrine of Escheat is a common law doctrine which

transfers the property of a person who dies without heirs to the crown or
the state. It serves to ensure that property is not left in limbo without
recognized ownership.

# Doctrine of Escheat or bona vacantia in

India
The Doctrine of bona vacantia or Escheat was declared to be a part of the
law in India by the Privy Council as early as in 1860 in Collector of
Masulipatam v. Cavary Vancata Narrainappah, (1859-61) 8 Moo Ind
App 500 at PP. 525. This case also held that the General Law of universal
application and that General Law was that private ownership not existing,
the State must be the owner as the ultimate Lord.

# Narendra Bahadur Tandon v. Shanker Lal, AIR

1980 SC 575
In India the law is well-settled that the property of an intestate dying
without leaving lawful heirs, and the property of a dissolved Corporation,
passes to the Government by escheat or as bona vacantia and that if the
Company had a subsisting interest in the lease on the date of dissolution,
such interest much necessarily vest in the Government by escheat or as
bona vacantia.

It is not only the tangible property that comes within the ambit of Doctrine
of Escheat or bona vacantia. The word property, when used without any
qualification or limitation, as above, is a term of the widest import.
Objective of the Doctrine of Escheat

Ordinarily, the property subject to escheat is all the property

within the state belonging to the original owner upon his or he
r death. Althoughinitially the doctrine was applicable solely to
real property, it presently extends to Personal
Property, including such intangibles as bankaccounts and shar
es of stock. Certain other types of property can be the subject
of escheat for lack of a known owner. The determination isco
ntingent upon state law.

Unclaimed or abandoned property escheats to the state under s

ome statutes. However, the state cannot merely declare proper
ty abandonedand appropriate it. Such laws must function with
in constitutional limits by observing the requirements imposed
by DUE PROCESS. The state isrequired to adopt a routine proce
dure for notifying the public and must provide potential claim
ants an opportunity to argue that the propertymight belong to t
hem. Without declaring that certain abandoned property has b
een escheated, the state may lawfully possess the propertyand
hold it for a period of time so that claims can be asserted. A st
ate is not mandated to take over unclaimed property but may c
hoose toexercise the power to escheat only when the value of t
he property does not exceed the expense of legal proceedings.
Items subject to escheat under various statutes include abando
ned bank accounts, deposits left with utility companies, stock
dividendswhose owners cannot be found; unpaid wages; uncla
imed legacies from the estate of a deceased relative; insurance
money to unknownbeneficiaries; and unclaimed money retain
ed by employers or public officials.

Certain statutes specify that the property of charitable or religi

ous institutions escheats upon dissolution if its donors have no
t retained theright to recover it when it is no longer used for re
ligious or charitable objectives.