Question

For U. S. land patents, could an assignee of an original patent file the claim after the original owner had died?

Comments

I believe it was possible for an heir to 'prove' the claim but one of our resident legal eagles should confirm that.

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To be more specific, did William Wales have to be living when this 1830 Indiana land patent was approved, if William Wales had died in 1827?  The assignee was Nancy Doty.  Link:  https://glorecords.blm.gov/details/patent/default.aspx?accession=0086-578&docClass=CV&sid=wk1mjyna.yeh#patentDetailsTabIndex=1

 

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Sorry, James, I was originally thinking of claims under a later land act. From this document, it would appear she had shown documents proving she was the assign of William Wales and she (or perhaps an estate) had completed any necessary payments or requirements to have the patent (title) issued.

Edit: Someone need not be deceased to have assigned their rights to something.

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I imagine the laws varied by state (and sorry, I don't know much about Indiana).