Reversion (law)

A reversion in property law is a future interest that is retained by the grantor after the conveyance of an estate of a lesser quantum than he has. Once the lesser estate comes to an end, the property automatically reverts back to the grantor.

Territorial reversion

Unlike private-law reversion, territorial reversion concerns sovereign rights over states or principalities and was common in early modern and nineteenth-century Europe. It was is a principle of public and dynastic law by which a territory returns to a previous sovereign or ruling house upon the extinction of a ruling line or the occurrence of a condition provided for in treaties, dynastic statutes, or acts of investiture.