v.2.1 Rules Update: Marriage & Inheritance

[Dirty Chai]

Talk, discuss, poke holes, and express opinion.

More rule updates (hopefully) coming (they're certainly planned). They will count up from 2.1 (2.2 etc) and then when we're satisfied (for the time being) we will make a new rule thread, reorganize the rules, and call it whatever number the last update was labeled.

Rules having to do with NPCs and foreign NPCs (particularly Ireland) comes next hopefully.

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(there's also a new section coming that will talk about general feudal law in England, Wales, and Ireland, but it's so not necessary to approve as it's just in-character facts of life and custom)

Marriage Contracts

In the medieval world, marriages were an agreement that came with compromises and investments from both parties before the marriage was agreed upon and before it could even take place. They were deals, and likely many marriages never came to be because one or both parties could not come to such an agreement. When marriages are conducted and agreed to, characters should hammer out the details of the contract. The best place to post these is the announcement thread or the thread where the marriage contract was agreed. Bride Price First, there may be a bride price. This was not very common, but is attested. It is usually in instances where a guardian wishes to be compensated for arranging or allowing a marriage to one of his wards or perhaps a king trying to get recompense for allowing marriage to someone he is remiss to let marry. Many fathers may demand this of men who they believe are beneath their daughters’ rank. It is in, mechanical terms, usually comparable to dowries in value (see next section), but the one demanding it has their freedom to set the price of course. If accepted, the would-be groom pays the one demanding the bride price the agreed amount. Dowries Then there is the subject of a dowry. Dowries were expected, unlike the bride price, and usually expensive. Nobles would avoid marrying those who were stingy on dowries. The dowry is paid from the father, or guardian (or whoever controls their family’s estates), to the groom. Originally dowries were intended to be the daughter’s personal purse, but have long since become simply a payment to the husband that comes with the wife. Here are the expected standards, though you should haggle and debate around them when agreeing to a marriage. Not paying a dowry or equivalent is often a grave insult. Sometimes dowries include lands rather than money, or both. - If marrying within your station (ex. Earl’s daughter to an Earl): 100% of bride’s guardian’s yearly income - If marrying above your station (ex. Earl’s daughter to a Baron): 200% of bride’s guardian’s yearly income - If marrying below your station (ex. Earl’s daughter to a Duke): 50% of bride’s guardian’s yearly income - If marrying NPCs: 50% of your yearly income When given, the dowry goes from the bride to the groom, unless the bride somehow has an estate of her own and it is held by her own right (see Jure Uxoris below), in which case she can treat the dowry as being her own money. Dowries however are often not given if the bride already has estates or wealth or land coming with her, inherited or dower (see next section) or otherwise, as that property coming with her is considered the dowry. Dowers Next there is a dower. A dower is a guarantee of property from the husband’s own property that the wife, if and when widowed, shall be independent of his heirs and well-endowed. The standard for this is ⅓ or so of the husband’s property. Yes, upon the husband’s death in that instance, ⅓ then would be inherited by the widow, regardless of if she sires children. That ⅓ would not return to his heirs until she dies. What happens to that dower depends on the contract. Normally the dower, upon the widow’s death, would return to the family of the husband she received it from. However, there are many instances where the dower is allowed to be inherited by all of the widow’s children, even later children by other husbands. Characters will seek, if possible, to get these inheritable dowers to their daughters and sisters when they marry them off. The non-inheritable dower (that is, only inheritable by the heir of her husband) is standard (and default if not specified) however. The intention then is for the dower to be also the widow’s dowry if she remarries. The new husband can claim it Jure Uxoris, but if it’s not inheritable it will most definitely revert to its original family when she dies, as specified in a contract. To clarify, the wife actually in name holds these territories as soon as she is married, but her husband will still manage them and own them in practice until he dies and his wife is widowed. For ease, you should designate in the marriage contract which provinces the widow will receive as her dower. IF NOT DESIGNATED: The standard will be that the widow receives ⅓ of everything the husband owned, unless the heirs seize the property. It will be non-inheritable, that is only inheritable by the deceased husband’s heir.

Adding to "Jure Uxoris":

Note that a marriage contract CANNOT prevent jure uxoris from being exercised even if it designates so. It’s completely in the power of the husband whether to exercise jure uxoris, barring any strange intervention from king or parliament.

Succession & Inheritance

A default succession & inheritance, if there is no will upon the death of a man or woman, would be that their male firstborn receives everything that had not already been granted or gifted to others (such as brothers) by the deceased. If they have no male sons, then the property goes to their daughters, equally; if they have no children, then the property goes to the siblings, with preference to male siblings (equally) over female (equally). And henceforth. It was extremely common and standard for fathers to grant their sons titles and lands before they died (especially when sick) to ensure all their sons were well provided for after they died (and not left destitute and at the dependence of their elder brother). Titles and land grants however may come with specified inheritance laws, called “remainders”, from the individual or party who granted it. The usual rules specified for titles are: - "Male heirs of the body" specifies that only males can inherit said title. When the Lord passes away, all attached titles shall pass on to his eldest son, and then failing that, his nearest male-line relative. If none exists, the title becomes extinct, and falls into a state of abeyance. - "Heirs of the body" specifies that both males and females can inherit, though male succession is preferential with all titles succeeding upon the eldest son. If the lord leaves only daughters, then the inheritance shall be divided as equally as possible amongst the heiresses. Should the lord leave no children, then it passes on to the closest male then female relation, respectively. - "For life" simply denotes that the title is a life peerage only, and is therefore unable to be passed on via inheritance. Upon the holder's death, the title reverts to the crown. Thus, a lord could die, and his sons might inherit only his lands but not his title, for the title was “for life”. Or, for another example, a lord could die, leaving only daughters, but his title was “Male heirs of the body” only, so his daughters divide his lands equally but the titles fall into abeyance. However, regardless of any specified rules, the king must confirm a successor in their titles for them anyway to be truly considered the next earl/baron/duke/etc, via a homage and fealty ceremony/oath. If this does not happen, the title (but not the lands) falls into abeyance and does not exist. If there is no heir (ie, no living descendants of the original holder), then the lands are escheated to the crown's possession. Wills To avoid a disastrous situation, nobles should seriously consider writing regular wills: they can post these in their home-thread and should state when they were written (along with why, if they choose). The most recent one will be followed, ignoring previous ones (unless some mischief occurs). If a character dies without a will, he has no will, and his property will be divided up and inherited according to the standard, default explained above. Thus you should consider regularly writing wills to ensure the outcome you wish. The king may declare a will void if he deems it radical or against tradition and impose his own ruling on the inheritance, and likewise will usually ignore any wills made by men known to be traitors or charged with treason. Wills made while sick or on the deathbed also might be declared void as it could be argued the write might have been not of “proper mind.” Even when there is a son or sons to inherit property, daughters should be considered as well. The king might even intervene on behalf of those daughters or their wives if the will leaves them destitute. They usually received large sums of their father’s money and often annuities from their brothers who inherited the land, but there are instances of them inheriting land while their brothers live as well. A woman who owns a dower (from a deceased husband) may write a will which designates who may inherit her dower, but the marriage contract which controls the dower supersedes it usually. Thus a woman cannot usually will her dower to her other children if the marriage contract specified it would be inherited back into her deceased husband’s family (ie, normally whoever his chief heir is or was) upon her death. IF NO WILL IS WRITTEN: Inheritance will follow the standard inheritance but may be arbitrated by the king or a liege, and co-heirs may rob each other of inheritance because of the lack of a legal reference.