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Land and wealth transfer

Land reform, confiscation, escheat and the end of great estates: how land and fortunes left one family and went to the state, tenants or strangers.

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What do the land and wealth transfer estate cases show?

A fortune given away during the owner's life is the one fortune no heir, court or tax office can fight over at his death. A house can survive famine and land war and still be lost to a family quarrel about politics.

Stories
23
Years
594 BCE to 2023
Main regions
Europe, East Asia, North America
Legal traditions
Common law, Roman law
Updated
30 October 2026

Every case in land and wealth transfer, best-known first

Best-known first: cases from 1900 on, then the United States, then Europe, and the people most read about on English Wikipedia each month. Fiction, scripture and legend come last.

Map of California, marked on the globe2023 · San Francisco, California, USAChuck Feeney secretly handed his Duty Free Shoppers stake to a foundation in 1984, gave away more than $8 billion, and kept about $2 millionCharles Feeney was born in 1931 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and went to Cornell on the GI Bill. In 1960 he and Robert Warren Miller founded Duty Free Shoppers, which made both men billionaires.atlanticphilanthropies.org and 2 moreCounty Mayo - Moore Hall - 20181027163650: County Mayo, Moore Hall.1933 · Moore Hall, Carnacon, County Mayo, IrelandAnti-Treaty IRA men burned Moore Hall in 1923 because a Moore brother backed the Treaty, and the novelist's ashes lie on Castle Island in Lough CarraGeorge Moore made a fortune in the wine and brandy trade at Alicante and came home to Mayo in the 1790s with £200,000. He built Moore Hall from 1792 to 1795.con-telegraph.ie and 3 moreSurrogate's Office, Richmond, Staten Island, N.Y (NYPL b15279351-104593): * Postcard categories and title comments in brackets [ ] provided by collector, Catherine Robinson.2012 · Staten Island, New York, USARoman Blum left about $40 million and no will in 2012, a Surrogate's Court threw out a will naming a disbarred lawyer, and a Moscow man says he is the great-grandsonRoman Blum survived the Holocaust and became a real estate developer on Staten Island. He died in 2012 at 97 with about $40 million and no will. His lawyer, Herb Nass, said he had urged him to make one.CBS News and 3 moreLaurel Hill Cemetery Advertisement (1904): Laurel Hill Cemetery Advertisement (1904) From "Philadelphia: The Birthplace of the Nation, The Pivot of Industry, The City of Homes" by 1930 · Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USAHenrietta Garrett died in 1930 with $17 million and no will; more than 25,000 people claimed to be her kin, ten went to jail, and three cousins she never met inheritedHenrietta Garrett was a childless widow who lived almost as a hermit in Philadelphia. She died on 16 November 1930 with no will and a residuary estate of about $17 million.legalgenealogist.com and 2 moreDuchy of Lancaster offices 2020: The Duchy of Lancaster offices, at 1 Lancaster Place, Strand, London WC2, viewed from the Victoria Embankment. It flies the Duchy flag. The taller 2023 · County Palatine of Lancaster, EnglandPeople in the old county of Lancashire who die with no will and no kin leave their estates to the King, and the Guardian found the money refurbishing his rental propertyIn England and Wales the estate of someone who dies with no valid will and no heir under the intestacy rules goes to the Crown, usually through the Treasury Solicitor.theconversation.com and 2 moreBodenreform-Urkunde-1945-1947: Bodenreformurkunde 1947 (weil Saatzuchtgut erst verspätet)1976 · Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania and Brandenburg, GEast Germany gave Junker land to new farmers in 1945, and reunified Germany took it back from their heirs without compensationIn September 1945 the Soviet occupation zone confiscated every holding over 100 hectares.menschenrechte.ac.at and 1 morePolish: Portret Henryka Benedykta Stuarta Portrait of Henry Benedict Stuarttitle QS:P1476,pl:"Portret Henryka Benedykta : Polish: Portret Henryka Benedykta Stuarta Portrait of Henr1807 · Frascati, Lazio, ItalyThe last Stuart heir lost his fortune to the French, lived on a pension from George III, and left the Stuart jewels to the Prince of WalesHenry Benedict Stuart, Cardinal York, was the grandson of the deposed King James II. When his brother Charles Edward died in 1788, he took the title Henry IX. He lost his French church incomes in the Revolution.col.rct.uk and 3 moreJacobo Arbenz 1951 (cropped): Presidente Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán durante su nombramiento como Comandante de las Fuerzas Armadas.1971 · Guatemala City and Finca El Cajón, Escuintla, GuatemalaArbenz's land law took 234,000 acres from United Fruit; after the 1954 coup the junta seized the Arbenz family farm, and Guatemala apologised to his family in 2011Decree 900, signed on 17 June 1952, made uncultivated land on large estates subject to redistribution, paid for in 25-year bonds at the value the owner had declared for tax.history.state.gov and 3 morePancho Villa: General Francisco Villa (cropped)1923 · Chihuahua, MexicoVilla's soldiers took Luis Terrazas's son from the British consulate for ransom, and Mexico bought the family's estates for 13.6 million pesos in 1922Luis Terrazas bought large tracts in Chihuahua at low prices during the Apache wars and built them into one of Mexico's largest estates in the 1870s and 1880s.history.state.gov and 5 moreMap of Zimbabwe, marked on the globe2011 · Mount Carmel farm, Chegutu, ZimbabweMike Campbell won his farm case against Zimbabwe in 2008; he was beaten, his house burned, the tribunal was shut down, and South African courts let the farmers sell Zimbabwe's Cape Town property for costsIn August 1974 Mike and Angela Campbell bought Mount Carmel, a 3,000-acre farm near Chegutu, and spent 20 years paying off the loan.supremecourtofappeal.org.za and 2 moreItagaki taisuke and Lin Hsien-tang 1914: 「台湾同化会」設立のため、台湾に渡った板垣退助と出迎える人々との写真。中央の白髭の老人が板垣退助、後列右から2人目が林献堂。1956 · Tokyo, Japan; Wufeng, Taichung, TaiwanTaiwan's leading landlord Lin Hsien-tang left for Japan "for treatment" in 1949 and never came back, and the 1953 land-to-the-tiller law paid landlords in bonds and sharesLin Hsien-tang became head of the Wufeng Lin family of Taichung in 1904.zh.wikisource.org and 4 moreStatue of the Duke of Sutherland, Ben Braggie, Golspie (2994889656): Statue of the Duke of Sutherland, Ben Braggie, Golspie1814 · Strathnaver, Sutherland, ScotlandPatrick Sellar burned houses in Strathnaver for the Sutherland estate, a jury acquitted him of culpable homicide in 1816, and the duke's statue still stands over GolspieIn 1766 the 18th Earl of Sutherland died leaving only an infant daughter, Elizabeth. Two other claimants challenged her, and the House of Lords found for the baby.her.highland.gov.uk and 4 moreLiu's manor - 收租院展览 20161123: ​大邑刘氏庄园博物馆展出大型泥塑《收租院》1949 · Anren, Dayi County, Sichuan, ChinaLandlord Liu Wencai died before land reform reached him, his manor became a museum of his crimes, and in 1988 its "water dungeon" was relabelled an opium storeLiu Wencai's father had two hectares and a liquor distillery. Liu became a liquor merchant in Yibin in 1920 and grew rich alongside his brother Liu Wenhui, a warlord, and his cousin Liu Xiang.deniseyho.com and 2 moreHomma Museum of Art: Homma Museum of Art (Sakata City, Yamagata Prefecture, Japan)1946 · Sakata, Yamagata Prefecture, JapanJapan's largest landlord told reporters in 1945 he would not regret going from 1,500 chō to 5, and the 1946 law left a resident landlord about oneThe Honma family of Sakata were merchants who lent money to the Shōnai and Yonezawa domains in the 18th century and bought farmland on a large scale.collections.dartmouth.edu and 3 moreSol Plaatje 002: Photograph of Sol Plaatje from his 1915 book Native Life in South Africa.1913 · Orange Free State, near the Transvaal border, South AfricaUnder the 1913 Natives Land Act a farmer named Kgobadi was ordered off his land by sunset, and his baby died on the road and was buried at night in a stolen graveThe Natives Land Act, No. 27, was passed on 19 June 1913. It barred Africans from buying or hiring land in about 93 percent of South Africa and aimed to end sharecropping.Project Gutenberg and 2 moreTiberius Gracchus: Eugene Guillaume - the Gracchi (cropped)133 BCE · Rome, ItalyTiberius Gracchus tried to enforce a 500-iugera cap on public land, senators clubbed him to death, and his brother's head was filled with lead for a rewardAn old Roman law barred anyone from holding more than 500 iugera of public land. Plutarch says the rich evaded it with fictitious tenants.University of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 2 moreKonradin: Codex Manesse, fol. 7r, Konradin von Hohenstaufen ("König Konradin der Jüngere") bei der Jagd mit Falken.1268 · Naples, Campania, ItalyConradin, the last legitimate Staufer, willed his lands to his Bavarian uncles and was beheaded in Naples at 16Conradin was born on 25 March 1252 at Wolfstein near Landshut, the son of King Conrad IV, who died in 1254. He grew up under the guardianship of his uncle, Duke Ludwig of Bavaria.de.wikisource.org and 2 moreMargarete von Babenberg: Margarete von Babenberg, auch Margareta von Österreich, tschechisch Markéta Babenberská, (* 1204 oder 1205; † 29. Oktober 1266 auf der Burg Krumau am Kamp)1246 · Vienna and Hainburg an der Donau, AustriaThe last Babenberg duke died without sons in 1246, his widowed sister of about 47 married a 19-year-old Ottokar and handed him her title deeds, and he divorced herDuke Frederick II of Austria, the last Babenberg duke, was killed in battle at the Leitha on 15 June 1246 and left no heir. His sister Margarete, born about 1204, was the widow of Henry (VII), King of the Romans.deutsche-biographie.de and 3 moreVernet Edith discovering King Harold's corpse on the battle field of Hastings: Edith Swanneck discovering King Harold's corpse on the battle field of Hastings1066 · Wilton Abbey, Wiltshire, and Cambridgeshire, EnglandDomesday shows Count Alan holding 33 of the 40 estates of Edith the Fair, and in 1094 Archbishop Anselm wrote to her daughter, King Harold's daughter, who had left Wilton Abbey with AlanDomesday Book lists "Eadgifu the fair" as the holder in 1066 of 40 estates: 25 in Cambridgeshire, 6 in Essex, 5 in Hertfordshire, 3 in Suffolk and 1 in Buckinghamshire. By 1086 Count Alan of Brittany held 33 of them.pase.ac.uk and 4 moreKings Agis and Cleomenes: Engraving which accompanied Plutarch's Lives of Agis IV and Cleomenes III, in volume 4 of the John Dryden edition published 1711. The speech scroll in the241 BCE · Sparta, Laconia, GreeceSpartan king Agis IV gave his estate and 600 talents to a land division, and was strangled with his mother and grandmother before any land was dividedPlutarch says an ephor named Epitadeus, angry with his son, passed a law that let a man give or bequeath his estate to anyone he chose. Land gathered into a few hands.University of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 2 moreSolon: Ignoto, c.d. solone, replica del 90 dc ca da orig. greco del 110 ac. ca, 6143594 BCE · Athens, GreecePlutarch says Solon's friends borrowed to buy estates before his debt cancellation, and Solon cleared his name by writing off five talents owed to himBefore Solon, poor Athenian farmers borrowed on the security of their own bodies. Debtors who defaulted could be enslaved, and some were sold abroad. Marker stones called horoi stood on the land of those in debt.University of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 3 moreWang Mang(Emperor of the Xin dynasty): Wang Mang, courtesy name Jujun, officially titled the Shijianguo Emperor, was the founder and the only emperor of the short-lived Xin dynasty23 · Chang'an (Xi'an), Shaanxi, ChinaThe Han shu records that Wang Mang took the throne from a Han child, declared all land the "king's fields", repealed it three years later, and his head was kept for 272 yearsWhen Emperor Ping of Han died in AD 6, the regent Wang Mang chose a two-year-old boy of the Liu clan as successor. He did not make the boy emperor. He called him "young prince" and himself acting emperor.zh.wikisource.org and 4 moreIrukaansatsuzu: Depiction of the assassination of Soga no Iruka from the Tōnomine Engi Scroll, painted during the Edo period (17-19th century).645 · Asuka Itabuki Palace, Asuka, Nara, JapanPrince Naka no Ōe cut down Soga no Iruka at court in 645, Iruka's father burned the court histories as he died, and a 646 edict abolished private estatesThe main line of the Soga clan dominated the Yamato court for generations.kotobank.jp and 3 more