Hereditament

In common law, a hereditament (from Latin "hereditare", to inherit, from "heres", heir) is any kind of property that can be inherited.
Hereditaments are divided into corporeal and incorporeal. Corporeal hereditaments are "such as affect the senses, and may be seen and handled by the body; incorporeal are not the subject of sensation, can neither be seen nor handled, are creatures of the mind, and exist only in contemplation". An example of a corporeal hereditament is land held in freehold and in leasehold.
Examples of incorporeal hereditaments are hereditary titles of honour or dignity, heritable titles of office, coats of arms, prescriptive baronies, pensions, annuities, rentcharges, franchises — and any other interest having no physical existence. Two categories related to the church have been abolished in [[England and Wales] and certain other parts of the British Isles: [[tithe]]s and [[advowson]]s. The term featured in the one-time "sweeper definition", catch-all phrase, "lands, [[tenement (law)|tenements]] and hereditaments" is deprecated in contemporary legal documents. The terms "land, buildings" and where such land is unregistered "[[wikt:appurtenant|appurtenant]] rights" invariably coupled with itemised lists more properly describe property respectively forming and connected with land, as distinguished from goods and [[Personal property|chattel]]s or movable property.
Other meanings.
In the UK the word is used in annual property taxation; its practical definition being the answer to the question, “as a matter of fact and degree, is or will the building, as a building, be ready for occupation, or capable of occupation, for the purposes for which it is intended?” combined with tests surrounding whether it is a dwelling and [[common law|case law decisions]], for example whether:
Notes.
[[Category:Inheritance]]
[[Category:Heraldry and law]]
[[Category:English law]]
[[Category:Property law legal terminology]]
[[Category:Common law legal terminology]]