Forfeiture is a legal term which includes the various cases in which a person is penally deprived of property. An offender who is fined forfeits a sum of money, which is recovered out of his general estate. The feudal law of England made forfeiture of land and goods part of the punishment of an offence involving disloyalty or breach of feudal duty; thus, the lord might claim lands in case of what was called 'escheat with attainder,' and there was forfeiture to the king in case of treason. An act of 1870 abolishes forfeiture in case of conviction for treason and felony; but the crown may appoint a person to administer the property of a convict; compensation to parties injured, and the costs of the prosecution, may be paid out of his estate. Civil forfeiture of land may still be incurred by unlawful alienation in Mortmain (q.v.), or by breach of the conditions on which the property has been acquired. A tenant, for example, may incur forfeiture by breach of his covenants, or by wrongful disclaimer—i.e. setting up a claim adverse to that of his landlord. Forfeiture for tortious alienation (i.e. for attempting to convey an estate greater than the grantor is entitled to) is now obsolete. The courts will always lean against a forfeiture, and the Conveyancing Act, 1881, protects a tenant against this extreme penalty where compensation in money meets the justice of the case.
In Scotland civil forfeiture may arise either from statutory enactment, at common law, or by agreement. By 1597, chap. 246, it is enacted that vassals failing to pay their feu-duties for two years shall forfeit their right. This forfeiture must be established by an action to recover the feu-duties in arrear, and may be avoided by payment at the bar. At common law a vassal forfeited his land by disclamation or purpresture. The former is analogous to the English disclaimer, and consists in the denial by a vassal of his lawful superior. Purpresture was incurred by the vassal's encroachment on the streets, highways, or commonties belonging to the crown or other superior. These forms of forfeiture are fallen into disuse. Forfeiture on special agreement depends wholly upon the terms of the condition inserted in the titles to the land. The condition must be fortified by irritant and resolutive clauses, and must enter the sasine, in order that it may be effectual against purchasers of the lands. Of this kind of forfeiture are breaches of Entails (q.v.). See ATTAINER, TREASON.