Escheator

Procedure

From the 12th century onward, the Crown appointed escheators to administer escheats and report to the Exchequer; by the mid-14th century, one escheator was established per county. On the death of a tenant-in-chief, the escheator received a writ of diem clausit extremum ("he has closed his last day", indicating that the tenant had died), issued by the Court of Chancery. The writ directed him to empanel a jury and hold an inquisition post mortem to determine the identity of the legal heir, if any, and the extent of the land held. These findings established whether the Crown held any rights over the land.