Legal Definitions - escheator

An escheator is a historical royal officer who was responsible for assessing the value of property that was escheating to the Crown. This means that when someone died without leaving a will or heirs, their property would go to the Crown. The escheator would then determine the value of the property and report it to the Crown.

Unfortunately, many escheators were corrupt and engaged in fraudulent conduct. This led to the word "cheat" being associated with the escheator and giving rise to the modern sense of the word.

For example, if a wealthy landowner died without leaving a will or heirs, their property would escheat to the Crown. The escheator would then be responsible for assessing the value of the property and reporting it to the Crown. However, if the escheator was corrupt, they might undervalue the property in order to keep some of the money for themselves.