|
|
Relicts of Former Economic Partners? Widows in the English Common Law and the French Civil Code
| The English common law (in force in England and in the English settler colonies like the ones in North-America) and the French civil code (largely inspired by the Customs that it replaced) treated widows very differently. French widows automatically became owners of half the assets accumulated during marriage- unless there were contrary provisions in their marriage contract. English widows were only entitled to support in the form of a dower, and their husband could reduce or eliminate it in his will. The common law did not recognize marriage contracts either- only the equity did.
The philosophy that informed both legal systems and legal traditions was quite different. In English law, the widow, referred to as a relict, was a dependent, and an external add-on to the husband's lineage. French widows were former economic partners whose right to a share of a couple's asset could not be abridged. Those different attitudes not only determine the rights of widows, but also shaped reforms to married women\s property rights in the nineteenth and early twentieth century.
|
|
|
|
