The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Sequestration

SEQUESTRATION, in law, the act of taking possession of property by legal authority, as to satisfy creditors, for the use of the State, etc.; also, an equitable writ, directed to a sheriff or a number of commissioners ordering them to enter upon the estate of the defendant and to take the rents, issues and profits and to keep or pay out the same as the court shall direct. It is also used by chancery courts to force compliance with their decrees or orders.