Draco Malfoy and the Gothic Manor - Common Law

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 128638

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "a_svirn" <a_svirn at y...> wrote:
> Khilari wrote: 
> 
> > And Draco Malfoy may be next in line to inherit. 

> A_Svirn
> Not if wizards adhere to the law of primogeniture. And if they don't 
> then Sirius could have willed it to Harry. Or to Remus, for that 
> matter.
> 
> a_svirn


bboyminn:

Relative to primgeniture, ask yourself this, who is the oldest living
male with Black blood flowing in his veins, and combine that with the
general Common Law aspect which does not allow inheritences to /ascend/?

That would be Draco. He is the oldest living male, that we know of,
who has Black blood.  

I posted this in the OT group, but since it is being discussed here, I
will take this opportunity to post it again. This is a summary, so
it's not detailed and doesn't mention how cousins fit in.

"Addressing the Duke and Inheriting his Loot"
http://it.uwp.edu/lansdowne/als.html
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Which says in part-

Normal Rules for Inheritance of Property-

Under English Common Law all property descended to the eldest
surviving son, or if there were no surviving sons, then was equally
divided among the surviving daughters. If there were no daughters it
fell to the eldest brother. If there were no brothers it was equally
divided among sisters. If there were neither brothers nor sisters it
could not ascend to the father, uncles, grandfather etc. It always
descended, never ascended. Note that this differs from the rules for
titles, which could ascend (to an uncle, for instance).

Common Law made no provision whatever for a man's younger descendants
other than the eldest's obligation by honor to care for them. Not all
were honorable, however, and Common Law could and sometimes did leave
the younger descendants in dire straits, as all regency romance
readers are well aware (a favorite plot). Thus the origin of entails,
settlements and (later) wills. Major landowners (the nobility and the
landed gentry) needed a way to ensure that their younger children were
not left completely dependent on the primary heir.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It would be nice if we could find a more detailed explanation so we
could see how cousins fit into the scheme.

Direct line of decendancy is alway perferred, for example, the son of
the dead man's son (grandson) would take precidence over the dead
man's brother. The son of a son is directly down the blood line,
whereas a shift to the dead man's brother would be sideways. 

Among eligible females, the oldest is not given preference. Which
means either the female Black cousins share equally or Draco gets it all. 

Of course, IF Sirius created a Will naming Harry, that changes
everything. Then it would be a battle between standard inheritance and
the stated intent of the dead person. That conflict is enough to bring
the matter to the courts for an independant ruling on who gets what. 

Also, as I like to remind people, there are really two inheritances to
contend with Sirius Black's personal estate, and the Black Family
estate. I'm assuming slightly different rules would apply.

For what it's worth.

Steve/bboyminn