hereditaments

Hereditament is a legal term in common law describing any property or right that can be inherited or passed on to an heir or devisee. Traditionally phrased as “land, tenements and hereditaments,” the concept covers property that can be owned, transferred, and ultimately inherited by successors.

Hereditaments are commonly categorized into corporeal and incorporeal types. Corporeal hereditaments are tangible interests in land, such as freehold estates, leaseholds, and copyholds. Incorporeal hereditaments are intangible rights that attach to land and may be inherited, including easements (for example, a right of way or support), profits à prendre (rights to take timber, minerals, or other products from another’s land), and other servitudes, as well as rights of common.

In practice, hereditaments include both the physical land and many related rights that pass on death or by will. They may be transferred by sale, grant, or vesting in a will, and they can be charged or mortgaged in ways personal chattels typically cannot. This distinguishes them from movable property or personal possessions that do not ordinarily constitute hereditaments unless they are attached to or inseparable from land.

In modern law, the term is often encountered in conveyancing, wills, and certain taxation contexts. While largely historical in everyday usage, it remains a definitional concept in statute and case law, with the precise scope varying by jurisdiction. Examples include a farm with a built property interest and a separate right-of-way over neighboring land; both are hereditary or inheritable properties, one corporeal and one incorporeal.