![Proikosymfono Kastoria 1905](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Proikosymfono_Kastoria_1905.JPG)
Dower is a provision accorded traditionally by a husband or his family, to a wife for her support should she become
widow
A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has died.
Terminology
The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word can so ...
ed. It was
settled
A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area.
A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer.
Settle ...
on the bride (being gifted into
trust
Trust often refers to:
* Trust (social science), confidence in or dependence on a person or quality
It may also refer to:
Business and law
* Trust law, a body of law under which one person holds property for the benefit of another
* Trust (bus ...
) by agreement at the time of the wedding, or as provided by law.
The dower grew out of the practice of
bride price
Bride price, bride-dowry ( Mahr in Islam), bride-wealth, or bride token, is money, property, or other form of wealth paid by a groom or his family to the woman or the family of the woman he will be married to or is just about to marry. Bride dow ...
, which was given over to a bride's family well in advance for arranging the marriage, but during the early Middle Ages, was given directly to the bride instead. However, in popular parlance, the term may be used for a
life interest
A life interest (or life rent in Scotland) is a form of right, usually under a trust, that lasts only for the lifetime of the person benefiting from that right. A person with a life interest is known as a life tenant.
A life interest ends when ...
in property settled by a husband on his wife at any time, not just at the wedding. The verb
''to dower'' is sometimes used''.''
In popular usage, the term ''dower'' may be confused with:
*A ''
dowager
A dowager is a widow or widower who holds a title or property—a " dower"—derived from her or his deceased spouse. As an adjective, ''dowager'' usually appears in association with monarchical and aristocratic titles.
In popular usage, the noun ...
'' is a widow (who may receive her dower). The term is especially used of a noble or royal widow who no longer occupies the position she held during the marriage. For example,
Queen Elizabeth was technically the
dowager queen
A queen dowager or dowager queen (compare: princess dowager or dowager princess) is a title or status generally held by the widow of a king. In the case of the widow of an emperor, the title of empress dowager is used. Its full meaning is clear ...
after the death of
George VI
George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of I ...
(though she was referred to by the more informal title "
queen mother
A queen mother is a former queen, often a queen dowager, who is the mother of the monarch, reigning monarch. The term has been used in English since the early 1560s. It arises in hereditary monarchy, hereditary monarchies in Europe and is also u ...
"), and
Princess Lilian was the Dowager Duchess of Halland in
heraldic
Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known bran ...
parlance. Such a dowager will receive the income from her dower property. (The term "
Empress Dowager", in Chinese history, has a different meaning.)
*Property brought to the marriage by the bride is called a ''
dowry
A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment ...
''. But the word ''dower'' has been used since
Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...
(''
The Clerk's Tale
"The Clerk's Tale" is the first tale of Group E (Fragment IV) in Geoffrey Chaucer's ''The Canterbury Tales''. It is preceded by The Summoner's Tale and followed by The Merchant's Tale. The Clerk of Oxenford (modern Oxford) is a student of what ...
'') in the sense of ''dowry'', and is recognized as a definition of ''dower'' in the
Oxford English Dictionary
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a co ...
.
*Property made over to the bride's family at the time of the wedding is a ''
bride price
Bride price, bride-dowry ( Mahr in Islam), bride-wealth, or bride token, is money, property, or other form of wealth paid by a groom or his family to the woman or the family of the woman he will be married to or is just about to marry. Bride dow ...
''. This property does not pass to the bride herself.
Meaning
Being for the widow and being accorded by law, dower differs essentially from a conventional marriage portion such as the
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
dowry
A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment ...
(cf.
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
''dos'',
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
''proíx'',
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
''dote'',
French ''dot'', Dutch ''bruidsschat'',
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
''Mitgift'').
The bride received a right to certain property from the bridegroom or his family. It was intended to ensure her livelihood in widowhood, and it was to be kept separate and in the wife's possession.
Dower is the gift given by the groom to the bride, customarily on the morning after the wedding, though all dowerings from the man to his fiancée, either during the betrothal period, or wedding, or afterwards, even as late as in the testamentary dowering, are understood as dowers if specifically intended for the maintenance of the widow.
Dower was a property arrangement for marriage first used in early medieval German cultures, and the Catholic Church drove its adoption into other countries, in order to improve the wife's security by this ''additional'' benefit. The practice of dower was prevalent in those parts of Europe influenced by
Germanic Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...
n culture, such as Sweden, Germany, Normandy and successor states of the Langobardian kingdom.
The husband was legally prevented from using the wife's dower — as contrasted with her
dowry
A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment ...
, which was brought to the marriage by the bride and used by both spouses. This often meant that the woman's legal representative, usually a male relative, became guardian or
executor of the dower, to ensure that it was not squandered.
Usually, the wife was free from kin limitations to use (and bequeath) her dower to whatever and whomever she pleased. It may have become the property of her next marriage, been given to an ecclesiastical institution, or been inherited by her children from other relationships than that from which she received it.
Types
In English legal history, there were originally five kinds of dower:
# ''Dower ad ostium ecclesiae'', was the closest to modern meaning of dower. It was the property secured by law, in bride's name at the
church porch
A church porch is a room-like structure at a church's main entrance. A porch protects from the weather to some extent. Some porches have an outer door, others a simple gate, and in some cases the outer opening is not closed in any way.
The porch ...
(where marriages used to take place). This was optional. Dower wasn't the same as bride price; rather, it was legal assignment of movable or fixed property that became the bride's property.
# ''Dower de la plus belle'' was a hereditary conveyance of tenure by
knight service
Knight-service was a form of feudal land tenure under which a knight held a fief or estate of land termed a knight's fee (''fee'' being synonymous with ''fief'') from an overlord conditional on him as tenant performing military service for his ov ...
. It was abolished in 1660, by the act which did away with old tenures.
# ''Dower ex assensu patris'', was the dower given to the bride by the father of the bridegroom. This became obsolete long before it was formally abolished (in the United Kingdom, for example, by the Dower Act 1834).
# At common law, dower was of a very different nature. It was a legal declaration of a wife's right to property, while the husband lived, which he would manage; which would transfer to the wife's children when they were born; and which would secure her livelihood were she widowed. A dower at common law was not liable for the husband's debts — which became controversial after many tried to use it to shield their property from the collection of debts. The Dower Acts of 19th century abolished this.
# Dower by custom was an attempt to recognize the rules of dower customary at each manor and in each region. Customary dowers were also abolished in the 19th century, and replaced with uniform inheritance laws.
History
Roman era
Dower is thought to have been suggested by the bride price which
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars.
The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...
found to be usual among the
Germans
, native_name_lang = de
, region1 =
, pop1 = 72,650,269
, region2 =
, pop2 = 534,000
, region3 =
, pop3 = 157,000
3,322,405
, region4 =
, pop4 = ...
. This bride price he terms ''dos'', but contrasts it with the ''dos'' (dowry) of the Roman law, which was a gift on the part of the wife to the husband, while in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
the gift was made by the husband to the wife. There was indeed in the Roman law what was termed ''donatio propter nuptias'', a gift from the family of the husband, but this was only required if the ''dos'' were brought on the part of the wife. So too in the special instance of a widow (herself poor and undowried) of a husband rich at the time of his death, an ordinance of the Christian
Emperor Justinian
Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565.
His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized '' renova ...
secured her the right to a part of her husband's property, of which no disposition of his could deprive her.
Establishment in Western Europe
![Cordelia's Portion](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Cordelia%27s_Portion.jpg)
Dower payments evolved from the Germanic custom of paying a bride price, which over centuries morphed into the bride gift. After the introduction of Christianity, the custom of dower persisted as a method of exacting from the husband at marriage a promise to endow his wife, a promise retained in form even now in the marriage ritual of the
Established Church in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. Dower is mentioned in an ordinance of
King Philip Augustus
Philip II (21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223), byname Philip Augustus (french: Philippe Auguste), was King of France from 1180 to 1223. His predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks, but from 1190 onward, Philip became the first French m ...
of
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
(1214), and in the almost contemporaneous
Magna Carta (1215); but it seems to have already become customary law in
Normandy
Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
,
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
, and
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
, as well as in England. The object of both ordinance and charter was to regulate the amount of the dower where this was not the subject of voluntary arrangement, dower by English law consisting of a wife's life estate in one-third of the lands of the husband "of which any issue which she might have had might by possibility have been heir".
England and other common law countries
There is judicial authority of the year 1310 for the proposition that dower was favoured by law, and at a less remote period it was said to be with life and liberty one of three things which "the law favoreth". In England in the late 18th century, it became common for men to hold land with a trust that prevented their wives' acquiring dower. Accordingly, the English statute, the
Fines and Recoveries Act 1833 was passed to impair the inviolability of dower by empowering husbands to cut off by deed or will their wives from dower. Wives married before the Act still had (in certain cases) to acknowledge the deed before a commissioner to bar their right to dower in property which their husband sold. This was simpler than the previous procedure, which had required a
fine to be levied in the
Court of Common Pleas
A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...
, a
fictitious proceeding, by which she and her husband formally remitted their right to the property to the purchaser.
In English law, dower was one third of the lands
seised in fee by the husband during the marriage. However, in the early modern period, it was common for a wife to bar her right to dower in advance under a marriage settlement, under which she agreed to take instead a
jointure
Jointure is, in law, a provision for a wife after the death of her husband. As defined by Sir Edward Coke, it is "a competent livelihood of freehold for the wife, of lands or tenements, to take effect presently in possession or profit after the de ...
, that is a particular interest in her husband's property, either a particular share, or a life interest in a particular part of the land, or an annuity. This was often part of an arrangement by which she gave up her property to her husband in exchange for her jointure, which would accordingly be greater than a third. Strictly dower was only available from land that her husband owned, but a life tenant under a settlement was often given power to appoint a
jointure
Jointure is, in law, a provision for a wife after the death of her husband. As defined by Sir Edward Coke, it is "a competent livelihood of freehold for the wife, of lands or tenements, to take effect presently in possession or profit after the de ...
for his wife. The wife would retain her right to dower (if not barred by a settlement) even if her husband sold the property; however this right could also be barred by a fictitious court proceeding known as levying a fine. The widow of a
copyhold
Copyhold was a form of customary land ownership common from the Late Middle Ages into modern times in England. The name for this type of land tenure is derived from the act of giving a copy of the relevant title deed that is recorded in the ma ...
er was usually provided for by the custom of the
manor with
freebench, an equivalent right to dower, but often (but not necessarily) a half, rather than a third.
Scotland
Under
Scots law, the part of the estate that cannot be denied to a surviving wife is referred to as
jus relictae
In Scots law, ''jus relictae'' is the right of the surviving spouse in the Personal property, movable goods of the deceased spouse. ''Jus relictae'' is the term used for a surviving wife, and ''jus relicti'' is the term used for a surviving husband ...
.
French Canada
Of dower (''douaire'') as it existed in the old French law no trace is to be found in the existing law of France. But brought to
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
from the mother country in pre-Revolutionary times, customary dower accruing by operation of law is yet recognized in the law of the former French province of
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
. The civil death which by English law seems to have applied to men only, might be by the French law incurred by women taking perpetual religious vows. Therefore, a widow entering into religion would lose her dower, although in some regions she was allowed to retain a moderate income. And now by the law of Quebec a widow joining certain religious orders of the province is deemed civilly dead and undoubtedly would suffer loss of dower.
United States
It was the law of dower unimpaired by statute which, according to the
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
commentator
Chancellor Kent, has been "with some modifications everywhere adopted as part of the municipal jurisprudence of the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
". In American law, a widow's dower estate has phases: inchoate dower while the husband is still alive (wives co-sign their husbands' deeds for land in order to release their inchoate dower rights), unassigned dower after his death and before a dower lot is assigned to her, assigned (and if necessary admeasured) dower once the lot is determined. Then she can live on the dower lot or get its
usufruct
Usufruct () is a limited real right (or ''in rem'' right) found in civil-law and mixed jurisdictions that unites the two property interests of ''usus'' and ''fructus'':
* ''Usus'' (''use'') is the right to use or enjoy a thing possessed, direct ...
("fruits" like actual fruit or animals grown there, and any rental income from her share), during her life. She can sell her unassigned or assigned dower rights, but could not sell them while they were still inchoate before her husband's death. Her dower lot is assigned to her by the husband's heirs who inherit the land, and it should be one-third of the husband's real property (by value, not by land area). If the widow disputes it, she or the heirs may file an action in court for admeasurment of dower and the court will determine and assign a dower lot to the widow. See ''Scribner on Dower''. A
widow
A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has died.
Terminology
The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word can so ...
's dower and
widower
A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has died.
Terminology
The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word can s ...
's
curtesy
Courtesy tenure (or curtesy/courtesy of England) is the legal term denoting the life interest which a widower (i.e. former husband) may claim in the lands of his deceased wife, under certain conditions. The tenure relates only to those lands of ...
rights have been abolished by statute in most American states and territories, most recently in
Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
in 2016. Dower was never "
received" into
Louisianan law, its
civil code being based mainly on French law. In
Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...
,
Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...
,
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
and the
Territory of Palmyra Island, a widow's dower remains a valid
estate in land
An estate in land is, in the law of England and Wales, an interest in real property that is or may become possessory. It is a type of personal property and encompasses land ownership, rental and other arrangements that give people the right to us ...
—modified and augmented in Arkansas and Kentucky with other protections for surviving spouses like
elective share
An elective share is a term used in American law relating to inheritance, which describes a proportion of an estate which the surviving spouse of the deceased may claim in place of what they were left in the decedent's will. It may also be called ...
and
community property.
Relationship to religious profession
During the pre-
Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
period, a man who became a monk and made his religious profession in England was deemed civilly dead, "dead in law" ; consequently his heirs inherited his land forthwith as though he had died a natural death. Assignment of dower in his hand would nevertheless be postponed until the natural death of such a man, for only by his wife's consent could a married man be legally professed in religion, and she was not allowed by her consent to exchange her husband for dower. After the Reformation and the enactment of the English statute of 11 and 12
William III, prohibiting "papists" from inheriting or purchasing lands, a
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
widow was not held to be debarred of dower, for dower accruing by operation of law was deemed to be not within the prohibitions of the statute. By a curious disability of old English law a
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
widow born in England would be debarred of dower in land which her husband, he having been an Englishman of the same faith and becoming converted after marriage, should purchase, if she herself remained unconverted.
Morganatic marriage: a post-medieval application
Some well-born persons have been prone to marry an ineligible spouse. Particularly in European countries where the equal birth of spouses (''Ebenbürtigkeit'') was an important condition to marriages of dynasts of reigning houses and high nobility, the old matrimonial and contractual law provision of dowering was taken into a new use by institutionalizing the
morganatic marriage
Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage, is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which in the context of royalty or other inherited title prevents the principal's position or privileges being passed to the spous ...
. Marriage being morganatical prevents the passage of the husband's titles and privileges to the wife and any children born of the marriage.
''Morganatic'', from the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
phrase ''matrimonium ad morganaticam'', refers to the dower (Latin: ''morganaticum'', German: ''Morgengabe'', Swedish: ''morgongåva'' ). When a marriage contract is made that the bride and the children of the marriage will not receive anything else (than the dower) from the bridegroom or from his inheritance or patrimony or from his clan, that sort of marriage was dubbed as "marriage with only the dower and no other inheritance", i.e. ''matrimonium ad morganaticum''.
Neither the bride nor any children of the marriage has any right on the groom's titles, rights, or entailed property. The children are considered legitimate on other counts and the prohibition of
bigamy
In cultures where monogamy is mandated, bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another. A legal or de facto separation of the couple does not alter their marital status as married persons. I ...
applies.
The practice of "only-doweried" is close to
pre-nuptial contracts excluding the spouse from property, though children are usually not affected by prenuptials, whereas they certainly were by morganatical marriage.
Morganatic marriage contained an agreement that the wife and the children born of the marriage will not receive anything further than what was agreed in pre-nuptials, and in some cases may have been zero, or something nominal. Separate nobility titles were given to morganatic wives of dynasts of reigning houses, but it sometimes included no true property. This sort of dower was far from the original purpose of the bride receiving a settled property from the bridegroom's clan, in order to ensure her livelihood in widowhood.
The practice of morganatic marriage was most common in historical
German states, where equality of birth between the spouses was considered an important principle among the reigning houses and high nobility. Morganatic marriage has not been and is not possible in jurisdictions that do not allow sufficient freedom of contracting, as it is an agreement containing that pre-emptive limitation to the inheritance and property rights of the wife and the children. Marriages have never been considered morganatic in any part of the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
.
In Islam
The payment from the groom to the bride is a mandatory condition for all valid
Muslim marriages: a man must pay mahr to his bride. It is the duty of the husband to pay as stated in the Qu'ran (Sura Al-Nisaa’ verses 4 and 20–24), although often his family may assist, and by agreement can be in promissory form, i.e. in the event the husband pronounces
talaq
Divorce in Islam can take a variety of forms, some initiated by the husband and some initiated by the wife. The main traditional legal categories are ''talaq'' ( repudiation), ''khulʿ'' (mutual divorce or ransom divorce) Historically, the rules ...
.
It is considered a gift which the bride has to agree on. The mahr can be any value as long as it is agreed upon by both parties. When the groom gives his bride the mahr, it becomes her property. While the mahr is usually in the form of cash, it may also be real estate or a business.
The mahr is of assistance to a wife in times of financial need, such as a divorce or desertion by the husband. If the mahr is in promissory form then it becomes payable if the husband initiates a (
divorce
Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...
). If it was previously paid, the wife is entitled to keep her mahr. However, if the woman initiates the divorce (in the procedure called
khula
Khulʿ ( ar, خلع), also called khula, is a procedure through which a woman can give a divorce to her husband in Islam, by returning the dower (''mahr'') or something else that she received from her husband or without returning anything, as a ...
), the circumstances of the breakup become relevant. If the divorce is sought for cause (such as abuse, illness, impotence, or infidelity), the woman is generally considered to have the right to keep the mahr; however, if the divorce is not sought for a generally accepted cause, the husband may request its return.
In the Baháʼí Faith
According to the
Kitáb-i-Aqdas
The Kitáb-i-Aqdas (Arabic: The Most Holy Book) is the central religious text of the Baháʼí Faith, written by Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the religion, in 1873. Though it is the main source of Baháʼí laws and practices, much of the co ...
, the
Baháʼí Faith
The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people. Established by Baháʼu'lláh in the 19th century, it initially developed in Iran and parts of the ...
's most holy book, the dower is paid from the groom to the bride. The dower, if the husband lives in a city, is ninetee
mithqáls(approx. 2.2
troy ounce
Troy weight is a system of units of mass that originated in 15th-century England, and is primarily used in the precious metals industry. The troy weight units are the grain, the pennyweight (24 grains), the troy ounce (20 pennyweights), and th ...
s) of pure gold, or, if the husband lives outside a city, the same amount in silver.
See also
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Curtesy
Courtesy tenure (or curtesy/courtesy of England) is the legal term denoting the life interest which a widower (i.e. former husband) may claim in the lands of his deceased wife, under certain conditions. The tenure relates only to those lands of ...
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Elective Share
An elective share is a term used in American law relating to inheritance, which describes a proportion of an estate which the surviving spouse of the deceased may claim in place of what they were left in the decedent's will. It may also be called ...
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Jointure
Jointure is, in law, a provision for a wife after the death of her husband. As defined by Sir Edward Coke, it is "a competent livelihood of freehold for the wife, of lands or tenements, to take effect presently in possession or profit after the de ...
References
Further reading
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Georges Duby
Georges Duby (7 October 1919 – 3 December 1996) was a French historian who specialised in the social and economic history of the Middle Ages. He ranks among the most influential medieval historians of the twentieth century and was one of Franc ...
, ''The Knight, The Lady, and the Priest'' (1981).
{{Authority control
Property law
Widowhood
Family law