Legal Definitions - quae plura

Quæ plura is a historical legal term that refers to a formal court order, or writ. This writ was issued when there was a suspicion that an official, known as an escheator, had not fully identified all the land and buildings (historically referred to as "lands and tenements") owned by a deceased person at the time of their death. The primary purpose of the quæ plura was to compel the escheator to conduct further investigations to uncover any additional real estate assets that had been overlooked in the initial assessment.

• Imagine a wealthy medieval lord who passed away. The initial inventory of his estate, compiled by the escheator, listed his main castle and several large agricultural estates. However, a local villager later informed the authorities that the lord had secretly acquired a remote hunting lodge and a small, unrecorded plot of timberland in a neighboring forest. In this scenario, a quæ plura would be issued, ordering the escheator to investigate these claims and determine if these additional properties indeed belonged to the deceased lord, ensuring all his lands were accounted for.

• Consider a situation where a landowner died without direct heirs, meaning their property would revert to the Crown through escheat. The escheator's initial report detailed a substantial manor house and its surrounding farmlands. However, during a review of old parish records, it was discovered that the deceased also held title to a small, dilapidated cottage and an adjacent orchard that were not included in the escheator's original findings. A quæ plura would then be commanded, requiring the escheator to conduct a more thorough inquiry into these newly discovered "lands and tenements" to ensure the Crown received all entitled property.