An heir presumptive is first in line to inherit a title or property if there is no legal heir. The concept avoids succession disputes, but may lead to incompetent heirs taking over. In common law systems, only legitimate sons can be heirs apparent, while girls and illegitimate sons are heirs presumptive. Shakespeare’s Hamlet reflects on the consequences of disrupted succession, and Queen Elizabeth I gained the throne as an heiress presumptive.
An heir presumptive is a person who is first in line to inherit a title, property or possession, if there is no legal heir. If a reigning monarch is childless, for example, the heir presumptive may be his brother or sister, or nephew or niece. If a legitimate heir is born, or if an heir presumptive with better claims, such as a closer family connection, arrives on the scene, the heir presumptive may lose his claim to inherit.
The concept of heir presumptive refers to the need to clearly define titles and inheritance rights. When confusion exists over a line of succession, stable states and even countries can quickly find themselves embroiled in civil wars between warring claimants. The institution of an heir presumptive allows for the smooth transfer of titles or inheritances without the possibility of succession disputes.
Of course, the big downside to using heir or heir succession is that it usually has little or nothing to do with proficiency or ability. Many unfortunate countries have found themselves in a bad situation after a hopelessly incompetent heir took over the throne. This same situation has led to several historic incidents where an heir presumptive has attempted to seize a title on the grounds that the rightful heir is causing measurable damage. Several heir presumptives found themselves favored by the local population due to the incompetent actions of the legitimate heir.
In many common law systems, the status of heir apparent can only be decreed on legitimate sons of the reigning title or estate holder. A girl can only be labeled as heir presumptive and can easily be replaced if a male heir is born. Similarly, a son born out of wedlock may be named as heir presumptive and may also take precedence over legitimate females, but is usually displaced from the line of succession if a legitimate male is born.
There is a natural contest between an heir apparent and an heir presumptive that legal assurances cannot always bind, a contest that has repeatedly played itself out dramatically in both life and art. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, part of Elsinore’s great blunder is that a person who would normally be heir presumptive, Claudius, has assumed power over the murdered king’s son and heir apparent, Hamlet. Shakespeare enriches this comedy with painful reflections on the dire consequences of a disrupted line of succession.
Shakespeare’s discourse on the matter may have been spurred on by a current event which caused much civil unrest in its time: the succession of heir presumptive, King James I, to the throne of England after the death of childless Queen Elizabeth I Queen Elizabeth I myself was an heiress presumptive who gained the throne at least in part by popular demand. Third in line to the English throne following the death of her father, Henry VIII, Elizabeth survived imprisonment and threats of execution at the hands of her older sister, Queen Mary I, who suspected the heiress presumptive of plotting a coup to seize the throne.
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