1. A legal doctrine requiring that gifts or advances made by a deceased person to an heir during their lifetime be returned to the estate and redistributed equally among all heirs.
Usage: legal term; chiefly British; usually used in the phrase 'hotchpot' or 'hotchpots'
2. A confused mixture or jumble; a hodgepodge.
Usage: archaic; informal

Examples

• The estate was divided according to the rules of hotchpots, ensuring fair distribution among the children.
• Under hotchpots law, the gift she received ten years ago had to be accounted for in the final settlement.
• The kitchen was a hotchpots of old appliances and mismatched furniture.
• His notes were a hotchpots of ideas scribbled in no particular order.
• The court applied the doctrine of hotchpots to equalize the inheritance.