Lwa rasin — root lwa — descend through the family line and are not selected. A person inherits responsibility for particular spirits through their father's or mother's side, and the responsibility does not depend on their assent, their attendance or their stated religion. This is the mechanism that makes Vodou difficult to leave in the sense that a congregation can be left: a Haitian who has been a practising Catholic for forty years, or who converted to Pentecostalism, may still be the person in the family on whom a specific obligation rests, and family members will tell them so. Consultations frequently establish that an inherited lwa has been unserved for a generation. The eldest capable relative generally holds the practical duty, and disputes about who is responsible are ordinary family disputes with a spiritual account attached.