If a person dies without a will (intestate)—and with no heirs (relatives or descendants)—ownership of the deceased person’s (decedent’s) property may be transferred to (or said to revert to) the state government (usually the state treasury) through the common law doctrine of escheat. In addition to enriching the state treasury (or the Lord in feudal England), escheat prevents property from remaining in limbo with no rightful owner.

A state’s common law is comprised of court opinions written by judges to resolve disputes and most states adopted the legal doctrine of escheat from the English common law (from England) soon after the founding of the United States and each state’s admission to the union. But in more recent years many state legislatures have defined the law of escheat in their state’s statutes—making it statutory law—which is also known as codifying the law, because it is then part of a code or statute.

The property subject to escheat laws is sometimes referred to or classified as unclaimed or abandoned property. Upon transfer to the government the unclaimed or abandoned property may be referred to as escheated property. And in some states there may be a period (a statute of limitations) in which heirs or rightful owners of the property may be able to reclaim escheated property.

Escheat laws vary from state to state and often depend on the nature of the asset involved (personal property, real property, bank account, brokerage account).

In Alabama, if a person dies intestate (without a will) and has no identifiable heirs, the property of the deceased may escheat to the state, meaning it reverts to state ownership. This is in accordance with the common law doctrine of escheat, which Alabama, like many states, inherited from English common law and later codified into statutory law. Alabama's escheat laws are outlined in the Alabama Code, which specifies the process for the state to take ownership of such property and the conditions under which it can be claimed by potential heirs. The state holds escheated property for a certain period, during which rightful owners or heirs may come forward to claim it. After this period, if no claims are made, the property permanently becomes state property. The specific rules and timeframes for claiming escheated property in Alabama can be found in the relevant statutes, and individuals seeking to reclaim such property would benefit from consulting with an attorney to navigate the process.