Each treasurer shall, every May, furnish to the escheator of his county or city a list of all lands within his district owned by any person who has died in possession of an estate of inheritance (i) intestate and without any known heir or (ii) testate without disposing of all property by will and without leaving any surviving heir to inherit the property. No land shall be liable to escheat that has been held for 15 years under adverse possession as at common law by the person claiming such land, or those under whom he holds, but only if taxes were paid throughout that period by the claimant or those under whom he holds.

Terms Used In Virginia Code 55.1-2404

  • City: means an independent incorporated community which became a city as provided by law before noon on July 1, 1971, or which has within defined boundaries a population of 5,000 or more and which has become a city as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-208
  • Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
  • Escheat: Reversion of real or personal property to the state when 1) a person dies without leaving a will and has no heirs, or 2) when the property (such as a bank account) has been inactive for a certain period of time. Source: OCC
  • Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
  • known: includes inspection of tax records and any other inquiry deemed to be reasonable. See Virginia Code 55.1-2400
  • Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
  • Testate: To die leaving a will.

Code 1919, § 492; Code 1950, § 55-171; 1977, c. 583; 1979, c. 340; 1982, cc. 453, 550; 1984, c. 315; 1990, c. 938; 1996, c. 551; 2019, c. 712.

  Previous section
Next section  
 Chapter 24 Contents