Literally, the taking out of a forfeited bond from other court records for the purpose of prosecution in another court. In common law England, a defendant could be tried before the court of common pleas, but if he fled and proceedings were instituted to forfeit his bond, the file would be "estreated" to the court of exchequer (a revenue court). Similarly, in Florida, when a criminal defendant fails to appear, forfeiture proceedings begin in the criminal case but are later pursued in a circuit civil case. However, because there are no longer any exchequer courts in the United States, the word "estreature" has largely been replaced by the word "forfeiture".