Legal Definitions - inheritable blood

Inheritable blood is a historical legal concept that refers to a person's legal capacity to inherit property, particularly land, from an ancestor through a direct line of descent. It signifies that there are no legal impediments or disqualifications in their lineage that would prevent them from receiving an inheritance.

Historically, certain conditions could "corrupt" one's blood, thereby severing the legal connection necessary for inheritance. These conditions often included:

• Illegitimacy: Being born outside of a lawful marriage.
• Alienage: Being a non-citizen in a jurisdiction that restricted inheritance by foreigners.
• Attainder: The loss of civil rights, including the right to inherit, due to conviction for a serious crime like treason or a felony.

While largely obsolete in modern legal systems, which rely on statutes of descent and distribution to determine who inherits property, the concept of inheritable blood highlights the historical importance of lineage and legal status in determining property rights.

Examples:

• Example 1: Illegitimacy and Land Inheritance

  Imagine a scenario in 18th-century England where a wealthy nobleman, Lord Harrington, had a son, Arthur, with a woman he was not legally married to. Lord Harrington later died without a will, leaving a vast estate. Under the laws of the time, Arthur, being born out of wedlock, was considered to lack "inheritable blood" from his father. This meant that despite being Lord Harrington's biological son, Arthur was legally unable to inherit his father's estate. Instead, the property would typically pass to a legitimate relative, such as a nephew or a more distant cousin, who possessed the necessary "inheritable blood" according to the strict rules of legitimate descent.

• Example 2: Alienage and Property Rights

  Consider a situation in the early 19th century in an American state that had laws preventing non-citizens from owning or inheriting real property. A German immigrant, Franz, purchased a farm in this state. Franz later died, leaving behind a son, Karl, who was also a German citizen and had not yet become a naturalized American citizen. Because Karl was an alien (non-citizen), he was deemed to lack "inheritable blood" for the purpose of inheriting real estate in that particular state. The law viewed his foreign citizenship as a legal impediment that prevented the direct transmission of property rights through his lineage. Consequently, the farm might have escheated (reverted) to the state or passed to a more distant relative who was a citizen, rather than to Karl.

• Example 3: Attainder and Succession

  During a period of political unrest in medieval Europe, a powerful baron, Sir Alaric, was convicted of treason against the reigning monarch. As a severe consequence of his conviction, Sir Alaric suffered "attainder," which included the forfeiture of his lands and the "corruption of blood." Sir Alaric had a legitimate son, Roland, who would normally have inherited his father's titles and estates. However, the "corruption of blood" resulting from Sir Alaric's attainder meant that not only did Sir Alaric lose his own property, but his son, Roland, also lost his "inheritable blood" from his father's line. This legal consequence prevented Roland from inheriting any property that would have normally passed to him through his father, and also from inheriting from any of Sir Alaric's ancestors. The legal system effectively severed the inheritance chain through that particular lineage due to the severe crime committed.