Escheat - How State Acquires Title

Escheat is of feudal origin, and properly applied only to land which on failure of heirs or for certain other reasons, fell in to the lord under whom it had been held. Personal property without an owner, as bona vacantia, became the property of the crown. In re Bond [1901] 1 Ch. 15. In the United States escheat is used more broadly, but usually arises when the owner of property dies intestate without heirs. Our alienage laws have generally removed disabilities of aliens to take, but in some jurisdictions there may still be escheat because of alienage, see 5 MICH. L. REV., 463. In others mortmain statutes provide for escheat of certain property held by corporations, Louisville School Board v. King, 127 Ky; 824, 15 L. R. A. N. S. 379, note, and in some states property like bank deposits, if long unclaimed, will vest in the state, State v. First Nat. Bank of Portland, 61 Oreg. 551, Ann. Cas. 1914 B 153, note; Mich. C. L. Secs. 321 ff., though in such cases the state is a kind of trustee for the absent owner, Atty. Gen. v. Provident Inst. for Savings, 201 Mass. 23; Mich. C. L. Sec. 338