10-31-2014, 03:07 PM
In Roman law, married couples were not allowed to give each other gifts. Supposedly this was to keep wealth within families, or something... but how did it work in practice?
If a man married a wealthy woman, would he have no access to her fortune at all? If he bought a house and furnished it, and was called away on (say) military service for a long period, would he have to appoint a procurator to oversee his finances while he was away, to regulate his wife spending his money on household necessities? What about if the wife owned slaves - would the husband have any authority over them while they were in his own house?
From what I can work out, after the death of a spouse all thier property reverted to their paterfamilias - usually their father, or oldest male relative - or their (male) children, rather than being inherited by the surviving partner. Is this right? In which case, could a man living in a house owned by his wife find himself evicted by her relatives after her death? Could he keep a portion of his wife's wealth in trust for their offspring, and use some of it to live off himself?
Thanks for any help or suggestions!
- Nathan
If a man married a wealthy woman, would he have no access to her fortune at all? If he bought a house and furnished it, and was called away on (say) military service for a long period, would he have to appoint a procurator to oversee his finances while he was away, to regulate his wife spending his money on household necessities? What about if the wife owned slaves - would the husband have any authority over them while they were in his own house?
From what I can work out, after the death of a spouse all thier property reverted to their paterfamilias - usually their father, or oldest male relative - or their (male) children, rather than being inherited by the surviving partner. Is this right? In which case, could a man living in a house owned by his wife find himself evicted by her relatives after her death? Could he keep a portion of his wife's wealth in trust for their offspring, and use some of it to live off himself?
Thanks for any help or suggestions!
- Nathan
Nathan Ross