Monastery death

Monastery death (German: Klostertod; French: mort civile des religieux)^[1] was a form of civil death – the loss of legal capacity of living persons – known to common and civil law. The monastery death happened in some jurisdictions when a person entered a monastery or nunnery and professed into consecrated life. Upon entering the religious order, the person was considered dead in private law. Either their normal heirs or the monastery or nunnery inherited all of their possessions.