Editing Escheat (section)

==Procedure==
From the 12th century onward, the Crown appointed ''escheators'' to manage escheats and report to the [[Exchequer]], with one escheator per [[county]] established by the middle of the 14th century. Upon  the death of a tenant-in-chief, the escheator would be instructed by a writ of ''diem clausit extremum'' ("he has closed his last day", i.e. he is dead) issued by the king's [[Court of Chancery|chancery]], to empanel a jury to hold an "[[Escheat roll|inquisition ''post mortem'']]" to ascertain who the legal heir was, if any, and what was the extent of the land held. Thus it would be revealed whether the king had any rights to the land. It was also important for the king to know who the heir was, and to assess his personal qualities, since he would thenceforth form a constituent part of the royal army, if he held under [[feudal land tenure|military tenure]]. If there was any doubt, the escheator would seize the land and refer the case to the king's  court where it would be settled, ensuring that not one day's revenue would be lost. This would be a source of concern with land-holders when there were delays from the court.