Corporeal Hereditaments are inheritable interests in real property that have a physical, tangible existence. The term comes from traditional English common law and refers to land and anything permanently attached to it that can be owned, occupied, transferred, and passed to heirs. Examples include vacant land, houses, commercial buildings, barns, fences, and other permanent improvements. In modern real estate practice, corporeal hereditaments generally encompass the physical real estate itself.
The term is most often encountered in legal history, title law, and older deeds rather than in everyday real estate transactions. It is commonly contrasted with incorporeal hereditaments, which are inheritable property rights that have no physical form, such as easements, profits à prendre, and certain mineral or development rights. Although the phrase is largely historical, understanding the distinction helps explain how common law classified different types of real property interests and why some rights can exist separately from ownership of the land itself.
