There were also some demerits: For example, the post of obanyaku was sometimes assumed not by the head of a clan but by his son, and in such a case, when the head of the clan died while his son was in Kyoto, it sometimes happened that the postion of head was deprived of by his younger brother or his uncle (an example: Hirotsune KAZUSA).
逆にデメリットとして、こうした大番役は惣領に限らずその子が請け負う事もあったが、子が京にいる間に惣領がなくなった場合、地元で弟・叔父などが勝手に惣領の地位を収奪してしまう、という事態が起きることもあった（例：上総広常）。