In domestic law, extinctive prescription is the expiration of a legitimate

inheritance Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, Title (property), titles, debts, entitlements, Privilege (law), privileges, rights, and Law of obligations, obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ ...

as the result of prolonged failure to claim said inheritance. Extinctive prescription is enshrined in the United Kingdom by the

Prescription Act 1832 The Prescription Act 1832c 71 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning English land law, and particularly the method for acquiring an easement. It was passed on 1 August 1832. History Common law prescription assumed continuous ...

. "Prescription Act 1832". By Practical Law Company. Retrieved April 20, 2013. The concept of extinctive prescription has mixed usage in international law, where it refers to the expiration of the right of a State to pursue claims if it fails to make an initial pursuit within a certain time-frame of the initial incident occurring. Some treaties specifically include it, while others specifically exempt themselves from it. There is, as of 2019, no agreed customary law about whether it exists (and to what degree) in non-stated cases.

References

{{law-stub Law of the United Kingdom