corporeal

Corporeal is a thing that has a physical existence and is capable of being seen and touched. In a legal context, “corporeal” is used primarily in the context of property. The state of Louisiana has a statute that defines corporeal and incorporeal. According to Louisiana Civil Code Article 461, "corporeals are things that have a body, whether animate or inanimate, and can be felt or touched." It can be both moveable and immovable, for example, land is an immovable corporeal and money is a movable corporeal property. On the other hand, incorporeals are things that have no physical appearance or body, "such as right of inheritance, servitudes, obligations and right of intellectual property." 

Under common law, corporeal hereditament is land and any permanent tangible objects on the land that can be inherited. 

[Last reviewed in June of 2025 by the Wex Definitions Team]

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