What is an "entailed estate"?
What is an "entailed estate"? Assistant at Law Assistant at Parklin Law If you're wondering what an "entailed estate" is, allow me to shed some light on the situation. Basically, entailment is a British legal practice in which an estate is kept within a family line—it's often called "primogeniture" in the United States and means that the property can only be inherited by the eldest son. Entailments were popular in the 13th century and were prevalent until the 19th century; they have largely disappeared in Britain but are still used in a limited capacity today. Back in medieval times, when land was an essential resource, entailments made sense as a way of keeping land out of the hands of those who couldn't properly manage it. If a family died out with no clear heir, then there would be no one to inherit that land and keep it from being lost to the crown—or worse, taken for granted or misused by someone who didn't care about it as much. Back...