Nobility associations use the current or former nobiliary law of the country they are based in to determine eligibility for membership while most other hereditary societies set their own rules for admission. For the purpose of establishing nobility in countries that no longer recognise it in law, historical law that was valid at the time the nobility was officially abolished is consulted. Candidates for membership typically have to provide irrefutable genealogical proof of membership in the nobility or possession of a title to be admitted. Typically, but not always, only descent from a person who was ennobled or recognised as noble by a sovereign state in accordance with laws that were valid at that time is a qualification for admission. This definition is used by
CILANE. In most countries, nobility is only inherited in the
male-line.
By scope Most nobility associations have a national or even regional nature, owing to differences between the nobiliary laws of various countries and the common identity of their nobilities. CILANE is a federation of European nobility associations; it allows its member associations to admit foreign nobles as long as they are eligible for membership in another member association. The Swiss nobility association includes some families of local feudal or patrician extraction but also Swiss families ennobled by foreign monarchs.
By form of establishment and structure Some nobility associations, such as the
Swedish and
Finnish Knights' Houses and the
Baltic Knighthoods, were originally established as official estate representations in accordance with public law and formerly had legislative functions, but most were founded as private clubs. Many have obtained
non-profit status. The German association of nobility associations is a federal structure like CILANE and consists of several regional nobility associations.
By membership rules and voting rights The Swedish and Finnish Knights' Houses consider themselves to be associations of noble families and only allow full, voting membership for the head of the family. Some associations only admit titleholders and sometimes their heirs, such as the
Permanent Deputation and Council of Grandees of Spain and Titles of the Kingdom, the Japanese
Kasumi Kaikan and the British
Hereditary Peerage Association,
Standing Council of the Baronetage and
Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs. Sometimes, both titled and untitled nobles can become members of the association but only titleholders are eligible for election to the organisation's board. Most nobility associations allow full voting membership for all nobles, regardless of rank. Some nobility associations are of a confessional nature, for example the Association of Catholic Nobles in Bavaria. The admission of legally non-noble persons to nobility associations is a controversial issue which can affect whether an organisation is considered a nobility association. This can include: • Children of noble mothers, illegitimate children and female-line descendants of nobles, who typically do not inherit nobility themselves; • Persons who purport to have been ennobled by a
royal pretender or in accordance with laws that were no longer valid at that moment; • Heraldists and genealogists who have provided services to the association. Associations which grant such exceptions do so for a variety of motivations, such as a lack of new members stemming from declining birthrates and the lack of new ennoblements, equality concerns or seeing non-noble descendants of nobles as carriers of noble culture. Associations which accept ennoblements by non-ruling pretenders typically consider themselves
legitimist, while those that do not tend to avoid the discussion of succession to their country's throne. CILANE generally only allows its member associations to grant non-voting, associate membership for non-noble persons. Notable exceptions are the Italian nobility association, which grants full membership to descendants of persons ennobled by King Umberto II after his deposition (but not by one of the two current pretenders to the Italian throne), and the nobility associations of Germany, some of which can admit non-nobles by decision of a special commission, usually individuals who have taken the surname of their noble mother to prevent its extinction. == Examples ==