Abeyance

Abeyance ( from Old French abeance: "gap" ) is a term from the English aristocracy legal. He describes the limbo in which a barony by writ drops, if the deceased title holder does not leave a male heir, but probably had several daughters.

The Barony is not extinguished in this case, unlike with nobility ( by letters patent ) created baronies, but is located in a state in which a titleholder does not exist, but several entitlements insist on the title. In baronies by writ all the female descendants of the deceased honoree are equally entitled to inherit ( the entire hand). However, since only one person is allowed to carry the title, not the equal heirs can claim the title for themselves, and it also does not inherit the eldest daughter of the title ( as in the male succession ); he therefore falls under all fundamentally entitled to inherit daughters in a state of suspension, the so-called Abeyance. A Abeyance basically ends only when only one entitled to inherit descendant is present.

But there is also the possibility that one or more of the heirs or one or more of the descendants of one of the Erbstämme a petition addressed to the crown, her / award him the title. In this case, examined the so-called Committee for Privileges and Conduct of the House of Lords, whether the person or petitioner belong to the legitimate descendants of the last honoree. When it detects that the or the petitioners entitled to inherit descendants of the last honoree is / are created the Committee for Privileges a report to the Crown, in its discretion, it is whether they restituted the barony for the petitioners (call out of abeyance ). Since there is no time limit for restoration petitions, many of the fallen in abeyance titles remain very long time, possibly centuries, in this limbo. An example of a particularly long abeyance is the barony Cromwell: She was abeyant 1497-1923.

• Peerage
• Law ( England and Wales)