Original scientific paper
Let “The Inheritance be divided among the other heirs without regard to her just as if she had never been born” (the custom of surrendering rights of inheritance in Split, 1919-1940)
Zdravka Jelaska Marijan
Abstract
Children who had received a portion of their parents’ property during
their lifetimes surrendered further rights of inheritance, or, it was commonly thought that their inheritances had been settled. In interwar Dalmatia, these types of arrangements were formalized between parents and children before a public notary. For the most part, daughters surrendered their right of inheritance, and sons only rarely. Daughters were deemed to have been compensated by the value of their dowries, while the amount of money invested into a son’s education was considered adequate compensation for him. Dowries consisted of money or movable property, thus in this way daughters were excluded from landed wealth. The custom of surrendering rights of inheritance was largely practiced among that portion of the population whose livelihood was tied to the land, among agricultural workers and landowners; while it was rarer among people of other occupations, though it was still found there too. Families that owned businesses did not attempt to avoid giving property to their daughters, but they did use the surrender of rights of inheritance to avoid giving them part of their businesses. The amount of compensation paid for surrendering rights of inheritance depended first and foremost on the occupation and wealth of the parents. The value of compensations were most likely tied to the general economic conditions because the lowest levels of compensation paid were immediately after the First World War and in the period 1934-1937, when the effects of the Great Depression were most keenly felt. The value of compensations in most cases probably amounted to an important piece of property, and these types of agreements, like wills, attempted to avoid the law of inheritance that set out equal division of property among descendents in the event of an intestate death.
Keywords
Inheritance Rights; Family Law; Dowries; Split; 1919-1940
Hrčak ID:
19061
URI
Publication date:
18.1.2008.
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