Legal and land terms · card H

Hereditaments

Hereditaments means any property that can be inherited; the deed phrase "lands, tenements and hereditaments" covers the land and every inheritable right with it.

A hereditament is anything that can pass to an heir. Lawyers divided them into corporeal hereditaments, such as land itself, and incorporeal ones, such as annuities, rent charges or other rights that cannot be touched.

The word turns up in the long, catch-all lists of old deeds and wills, usually as "lands, tenements and hereditaments." It does not point to anything specific; it simply makes sure nothing inheritable is left out of the grant.

As seen in a recordGranting clause of a deed, 1800s
all those lands, tenements and hereditaments situate in the Township of Union
How to cite this page

Daily Ancestor. "Hereditaments." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/legal-land/hereditaments. Last checked 2026-10-10.

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