'''Abeyance ''' (from the Old French ''abeance'' meaning "gaping"), a state of expectancy in respect of property, titles or office, when the right to them is not [[vesting|vested]] in any one person, but awaits the appearance or determination of the true owner. In law, the term abeyance can only be applied to such future estates as have not yet vested or possibly may not vest. For example, an estate is granted to A for life, with [[Remainder (law)|remainder]] to the heir of B. During B's lifetime, the remainder is in abeyance, for until the death of B it is uncertain who his heir is. Similarly the [[Freehold (real property)|freehold]] of a [[benefice]], on the death of the incumbent, is said to be in abeyance until the next incumbent takes possession.

==Law of peerages==
The most common use of the term is in the case of English [[British Peerage|peerage]] dignities. Most such peerages pass to [[Order of succession#Agnatic succession|heirs-male]], but the ancient [[barony|baronies]] created by [[hereditary peer#Writs of summons|writ]], as well as some very old [[earldom]]s, pass instead to [[Order of succession#Primogeniture|heirs-general]], also known as ''male primogeniture''. In this system, sons are preferred from eldest to youngest, the heirs of a son over the next son, and any son over daughters, but there is no preference among daughters: they or their heirs inherit equally.

If the daughter is an only child or her sisters are deceased and have no living issue, she (or her heir) is vested with the title; otherwise, since a peerage cannot be shared nor divided, the dignity goes into abeyance between the sisters or their heirs, and is held by no one. If through lack of issue, marriage or both, eventually only one person represents the claims of all the sisters, he or she can claim the dignity as a matter of right, and the abeyance is said to be terminated. On the other hand, the number of prospective heirs can grow quite large, since each share potentially can be divided between daughters.

A co-heir may petition the Crown for a termination of the abeyance. The Crown may choose to grant the petition, but if there is any doubt whatsoever as to the pedigree of the petitioner, the claim is normally referred to the [[Peerage law#Peerage disputes|Committee for Privileges]]. If the claim is unopposed, the Committee will generally award the claim, unless there is evidence of [[collusion]], the peerage has been in abeyance for more than a century, or if the petitioner holds less than one-third of the claim.

It is entirely possible for a peerage to remain in abeyance for centuries. For example, the [[Baron Grey of Codnor|Barony of Grey of Codnor]] was in abeyance for over 490 years between [[1496]] and [[1989]], and the [[Baron Hastings|Barony of Hastings]] was similarly in abeyance for over 299 years from [[1542]] to [[1841]]. Some other baronies became abeyant in the thirteenth century, and the abeyance has yet to be terminated. The only titles other than a barony that have yet gone into abeyance are the [[Baron Arlington|earldom of Arlington and the viscountcy of Thetford]], which are united.

Titles in the [[Peerage of Scotland]] cannot go into abeyance. In Scotland, the eldest sister is preferred over younger sisters; sisters are not considered equal coheirs.

It is common, but incorrect, to speak of peerage dignities which are dormant (i.e. unclaimed) as being in abeyance.

==References==
{{Wikisource1911Enc|Abeyance}}
*{{1911}}
* [[George Cokayne|Cokayne, George Edward]]. ''[[The Complete Peerage]]''. ISBN 0-904387-82-8 and ISBN 0-7509-0154-3.

[[Category:Abeyant peerages|*]]
[[Category:Peerage]]