House Law of the Karno-Ruthenian Imperial Family

The House Law of the Imperial Family of Karnia-Ruthenia, at the example of many German families, were a collection of written customs and rules, enlarged over time. The dynasty tried early on to introduce absolute primogeniture and maintain the unity of their lands, extended this indivisibility to all future acquisitions and additions to their territories and also established some principles, one of which was the requirement of being a Roman Catholic to ascend to the thrones occupied by the family and prohibited further partitions within each line. The statute, first called a "family pact", was in discussions since December 2020, but were finally concluded on April 2021. As the first document to regulate the legal relations between the members of the imperial house it comprises sixty-eight separate clauses in order that it may serve as an enduring guideline in our most serene imperial house. The Statute was divided up into seven parts regulating membership of the archducal house, maintenance of non-ruling family members, marriages and wills. As head of the family, the Emperor was responsible for supervising family business and had the authority to make decisions. Members of the family wishing to marry had to obtain the agreement of the head of the family, for example. However, the Emperor could make exceptions to the rules under the examination of the case. Although the Statute did not regulate the matter of family members taking their leave of the imperial house, some dynasts during the family pact of 2021 renounced their rights of succession to the Throne, most especially because they were not willing to adhere to the Habsburgs’ strict regulations concerning choice of marital partners.