Kuge-ryo territory was originally inherited by founding a new branch family (e.g. the Takatsukasa family branched out from the Konoe family) based on the division and grant of keryo to the second or younger son, and, alternatively, matrilineal succession was possible, but in the late Kamakura period an expansion of kuge-ryo territory slowed down and merely a division of the kuge-ryo progressed.
公家領は当初は次男以下への家領の分割による新しい家の分立（例、近衛家からの鷹司家分立）や女系による継承の例も見られたが、鎌倉時代後期になると公家領の拡大が鈍化して分割のみが進行する様になった。