Legal Definitions - incorporeal hereditament

An incorporeal hereditament refers to an intangible right connected to land that can be inherited. Unlike physical property like a house or a piece of land, an incorporeal hereditament is not something you can touch or see. Instead, it represents a legal right or privilege that attaches to land and passes down to future owners or heirs.

Here are some examples:

• Right of Way (Easement): Imagine a situation where your property doesn't directly touch a public road, and your only legal access is by crossing a specific path on your neighbor's land. This established legal right to use a portion of your neighbor's property for access is an incorporeal hereditament. It's not a physical part of your land, nor do you own your neighbor's land; it's an intangible right to use it. Because this right is legally attached to your property and passes down to whoever owns your land in the future, it is also inheritable.
• Right to Fish (Profit à prendre): Consider a family who sells a large portion of their estate, including a river that runs through it, to a developer. However, they legally retain a specific right for themselves and their descendants to fish in a particular section of that river, even though it now belongs to the developer. This "right to fish" is an incorporeal hereditament. It's not the river itself, nor the land beneath it, but an intangible right to take something (fish) from another's property. Since this right was specifically reserved to be passed down through the family's generations, it is inheritable.
• Right to Mine (Profit à prendre): Suppose a farmer sells the surface rights of his land to a housing developer but legally reserves the right for his family to extract specific minerals, such as coal or gravel, from beneath that land in the future. This right is documented to pass to his heirs. This "right to extract minerals" is an incorporeal hereditament. It's not the physical minerals until they are extracted, nor is it ownership of the land. It's an intangible right to take something from the land. Because this right is legally established to be inherited by the farmer's descendants, it is hereditary.