Majorat

Majorat (French:

In many cases, the title could not be inherited if the property attached to it did not pass to the same person.[2] Like English entails, the consequences of majorats were often used in fiction to add complexity to plots; Honoré de Balzac was especially interested in them.^[3]

In the

In Portugal, there was a similar arrangement called a morgadio, the holder of which was denominated the morgado (or morgada if female). Each morgadio was established by a specific deed on the basis of an indivisible estate and included rules of succession. In many cases, one of the requirements for inheritance was that the heir must take the family name—-and occasionally the coat of arms—-of the founder of the morgadio. Both men and women could institute and inherit one, although in most cases succession was preferentially by male primogeniture. In some families many morgadios were accumulated as a result of marriage alliances, leading to a tradition of very long family names among the Portuguese nobility. Morgadios were abolished in 1863.

In Spain the practice was known as mayorazgo, and was a part of the Castilian law from 1505 (Leyes de Toro) to 1820. Basque majorats could be inherited by the oldest male or female child.

See also

• Minorat
  – same as majorat, only inheritance passed to the youngest child
• Fee tail - similar but different concept in common law

References