Corporeal is a thing that has a physical existence and is capable of being seen and touched. In reference to law, “corporeal” is used primarily in the context of property. Louisiana has a statute that defines corporeal and incorporeal. As per 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 updated in June of 2021 by the Wex Definitions Team]