Disinheriting a legitimate son.

Upstart Joined: 03 Aug 2007 Posts: 1

Hi. I was wondering if a British peer could have renounced a son born in wedlock. Would such situations as the heir being mentally ill, or possibly not the peer's real son, qualify as reasons for (officially) disinheriting him? Or what if this first son is a wastrel and unrepentant gambler, who would squander the entire family's fortune upon inheriting - couldn't the father choose another heir for his title and (entailed) property from amongst his other sons?

Viscountess of the Manor Joined: 20 Sep 2006 Posts: 1100

Nope. First born is first born is first born. A father can leave UNENTAILED property to whomever he chooses, but a title and whatever is entailed must go to the legal heir, regardless of how the father feels about it. It the son is mentally ill to the point of being locked away in bedlam, I believe the estate would still belong to him until his death, but it would be held in trust (and upon his death a younger brother or cousin would inherit, assuming there was one).

Prooving a son born to your wife was not really the husband’s child was nearly impossible. Any child born to the woman that could have been the husband’s was legally his (if he was out of the country for a year prior to the birth he MIGHT have had grounds for having the child declared illegitimate, along with grounds for a divorce!), but if they were cohabiting, the kid was legally considered his no matter how much he might protest; just saying he hadn’t touched in wife in years or months wasn’t enough. I haven’t seen any cases where there was proof of illegitimacy (such as the baby being obviously half black) and the couple was cohabiting. That might be an interesting case study . . .

One of the more notable scandals in the late 18th century was the Duke of Devonshire refusing to acknowledge his wife’s bastard daughter by Lord Grey (esp as his own bastards by his live-in-mistress were being raised right along side his legitimate children). It was considered very poor form for him to insist the child be sent away to live with her paternal grandparents.
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-Kalen
w/a Isobel Carr
Ripe for Pleasure, May 2011
Book 1: The League of Second Sons
www.isobelcarr.com

Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2007 10:49 am Post subject:

Kalen has it covered. There is no way to disinherit a legitmate heir, but you could do some fancy fictional tapdancing if you had to. For example, if the legitimate heir is mad as a hatter, you could pull a Jane Eyre and lock him up in the attic and pretend he'd died so the next healthy brother could inherit the title and entailed estate. And then all hell breaks loose when the mad heir's existence is discovered. Very Happy

The rules of inheritence are pretty tight, but sometimes that makes them more fun to play with.
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Viscountess of the Manor Joined: 20 Sep 2006 Posts: 1100

Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 9:02 pm Post subject: