Basically, right now you need to be there to pick up an estate.
For the future, I plan to add in ways like meeting with a lord, etc. - especially for tournaments. However, these are a bit more difficult to code, so don't expect them in the very near future.
Understood.
A question, though: Would it be difficult to allow freemen to claim an estate?
Normal rules: 3 recommendations, acceptance by the region lord to be considered the 3rd; as well as the 1 recommendation per noble rule, cannot claim an estate from a region lord who has already given his/her recommendation.