California Escheat Laws
Posted by Tamara
In California real estate law if a property escheats, title to the real estate reverts to the government. Usually this means the property owner has died with no living heirs and no will. Therefore, his or her property reverts to the state government. This law is based in feudal England where all of the land belonged to the King. The King would grant land to lords who in turn would grant land as fiefdoms to tenants.
When a tenant died, the land would escheat or revert to the King for one year and one. After that period expired, the King would re-grant the land to the lord who could in turn grant it to another tenant if he desired.
If a tenant was found guilty of treason and executed, his land escheated permanently to the King. If he was guilty of a felony, his land escheated. This is similar to the federal government confiscating the property of drug dealers in modern times. The only difference being that usually only the criminal’s “ill-gotten gains” are confiscated today. .
Today escheat refers to the transfer of title to property and land to the government for any reason. Suppose Roland owns a farm. He is a hard working property owner but he neglects to take time to draw up a will. He dies suddenly. His property would go to his living heirs – in this case, his wife and son. If Roland had no relatives, he could leave the property to a charity, a friend or even his cat. However, if Rolland had no heirs his property would automatically escheat to the state government.
Escheat also refers to property other than real estate. When they go through Roland’s personal effects, they find that he has a savings account. If Roland had living descendents this money would automatically go to them. If he had no living heirs, the property, if unclaimed, would go to the state. In most cases, property and real estate reverts to the state rather than the federal government. In cases such as bank accounts, escheat can be revocable. Let’s say that the money was a significant amount and was publicized in the news media. It’s possible that a distant cousin of Roland’s could come forward and claim the money. In some cases, the cousin could also claim the real estate.
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