Male-preference primogeniture

​

Laws of Inheritance for most of the Seven Kingdoms follow male-preference primogeniture. This comes with the exception of Dorne.

​

​Heirs come in two types, heirs apparent and heirs presumptive.  Heirs apparent can not be displaced by the birth of a child while an heir presumptive can.  A lord's eldest son, no matter who is born after him, can not be displaced, by the birth of another, from succession and thus is an heir apparent.  In contrast, should a lord have no children, his brother is the heir presumptive and can be displaced by the birth of a child.

​

A man's eldest son is generally his heir, followed by his second son, his third, and so on.  The youngest son is followed in the line of succession by the eldest daughter and after her come her sisters in birth order.  A man's daughter inherits after the sons, but before her father's brother.  The exception to this is if the female of the line, after the brothers, is married to the heir of another house.  Then she, and any of her children, are of the house into which she married.  If a line has only daughters and no sons, the females are skipped over for the next male in line, generally the man's brother.

​

When a female inherits, her last name is passed on to her children instead of the name of her husband.  Although the rule of lands frequently finds itself in male hands, women can inherit and have certain political power in their own right.  Women also can become regents for their children until they come of age.​

​

A Lord may choose, however, to name one of his younger sons as his heir and thus pass over his elder children, or he may name the child of another as his heir.  A Lord may lay out specific terms for inheritance or pass over their offspring at will, which oftentimes invites legal wrangling or violence after and during their life.  Heirs born into a different house drop their birth surname when they come into their inheritance, adopting the name of the inherited house as their own.

​

In instances where there is no clear heir, claims may be presented to the House's liege lord, or in the case of Great Houses to the King.  In some rare cases, when a ruling lord dies and leaves no clear heir, his widow might lay claim to his lands and rule till her own death.  In such cases, she might name an heir by herself.

 ​

The exception to this is most of Dorne who follow the Rhoynish customs.  No distinction is made between sons and daughters and children inherit in order of birth.  In such cases where a female inherits or is the heir, she does not take the name of her husband, nor do her children.  In such cases, heirs are unlikely to marry one another unless one renounces their inheritance.  However, in the true Westrosi style, there is an exception to the exception: the Stony Dornish who live mostly within the mountain passes of Dorne and hold Andal lineage.  Stony Dornish follows the same male-preference primogeniture as most of the rest of the Seven Kingdoms, with whom they share ancestors.

​

The right of succession, or inheritance, may be renounced at will by the heir.  It is also lost when someone becomes a member of the Night's Watch, a maester, a septon, or joins the Kingsguard.  Those found guilty of treason may be attainted, in which case even their descendants would lose their right to succeed.
 

bastards

The legitimization of a bastard is reserved for monarchs alone and once done can not be undone. Legitimization does not place the bastard or his children automatically within the line of inheritance.    The rights of a bastard are few and inheritance may happen rarely if the father has no other trueborn children or direct heirs for him to consider.
​
While clear heirs were rarely challenged, such as sons of the lord, weak or unclear heirs often were.  Many nobles would support an uncle or cousin over a legitimized bastard, and a lord appointing his legitimized bastard as his heir may well be cause for strife.

​

inheritance of the iron throne

During the Great Council of 101 AC, the Westerosi lords voted on succession and the lords felt that a male line was preferred over a female line.  This began a precedent set in place that the Iron Throne could not pass to a woman or the male descendants of a woman.  It was Viserys who later disregarded these precedents by naming his daughter as his heir, precipitating the Dance of Dragons.  

 

After the Dance of the Dragons, the agnatic principle laid down in the Great Council of 101 was modified so that all women came after all men in the Targaryen line of succession.  Thus when it comes to the inheritance of the Iron Throne, unlike typical Anadal tradition, the inheritance goes through every male of the line before it looks at any female members or their children.

​

Essentially, females and any male descendants of a female line do not inherit unless all males of House Targaryen are functionally extinct.

​

The Crown Prince is the heir apparent to the Iron Throne and is always the King's eldest son.  Should the King have no son, the realm has no Crown Prince.