In modern U.S. usage, forfeiture is deprivation or destruction of a right in consequence of the non-performance of some obligation or condition.
[2] The term also refers to the rule in English law under which an insured person who makes a fraudulent insurance claim loses their claim: this rule was derived from common law until the passage of the Insurance Act 2015, which "puts the common law rule of forfeiture on a statutory footing".
[citation needed] A striking illustration of the practical effects of this rule is Giles Corey’s refusal to plead, in the Salem Witch Trials, instead dying under peine forte et dure.
In rem forfeiture actions may lead to unusual or even comedic case names, such as United States v. One Solid Gold Object in Form of a Rooster.
The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act provides for modern forfeiture actions in the United States with regards to criminal prosecution.