noun. The grouping together of various properties, that may have different origins or statuses, for the purpose of determining how best to accomplish an equal division of the aggregate, as in an intestate estate with several heirs or the settlement of a divorce in a community property state.

noun. A mixture of various ingredients; a hodgepodge or hotchpotch.

noun. In law, the aggregating of shares or properties, actually or theoretically, in order to secure equality of division.

noun. A mingled mass; a confused mixture; a stew of various ingredients; a hodgepodge.

noun. A blending of property for equality of division, as when lands given in frank-marriage to one daughter were, after the death of the ancestor, blended with the lands descending to her and to her sisters from the same ancestor, and then divided in equal portions among all the daughters. In modern usage, a mixing together, or throwing into a common mass or stock, of the estate left by a person deceased and the amounts advanced to any particular child or children, for the purpose of a more equal division, or of equalizing the shares of all the children; the property advanced being accounted for at its value when given.

noun. The blending together of property so as to achieve equal division, especially in the case of divorce or intestacy

"Littleton, the first great writer on English real property-law, traces the origin of the phrase 'hotchpot' -- a familiar legal term -- to the archaic denomination of a pudding, in our English tongue."

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