Land Patent Law and Legal Definition
A land patent is a supreme title to land which was originally acquired within the United States of America by a treaty. It grants the rights to the described land under the treaty to the individual person named on the patent and to their heirs and their assigns forever.
The party named on the patent may transfer by inheritance, grant, or assign the patented lands to someone else, which heir or assignee is now named on the patent by that assignment. Assignments are often made by deed, but must be accepted and the grantee must take some action to signify acceptance of the assignment. After accepting the proper assignment of the Land Patent with proper documentation, the transferee is named on the physical land patent where it says, "and to his heir and assigns forever". It is usually granted by the federal or state government to an individual or private company.
