Estate Planning

Probate and the History of Women's Inheritance Rights

By Hull & Hull LLP

I came across a really interesting blog (find it here)  the other day that considered an article published recently by Kristine S. Knaplund  (Professor of Law, Pepperdine School of Law), entitled The Evolution of Women’s Rights in Inheritance, 19 Hastings Women’s Law Journal 3 (2008).

The article describes how archived probate files in Los Angeles are a valuable source of information on the history of women’s inheritance rights. Issues such as whether women were routinely appointed as the executrix of their husband’s estate, and whether they were left the residue of an estate outright or with a life interest or by way of a trust, are considered.   The following is an excerpt from article:

“The probate files are a rich source of information about the lives of women and men in Los Angeles as it transitioned and grew into a major city. The availability of land and the use of promissory notes allowed the industrious the opportunity to save money and leave an estate to their families and friends. Ten women left estates over $10,000 in 1893 dollars, compared with twenty-two men. Of these, one woman began as a maid from Ireland who ended up being the richest woman dying in Los Angeles in 1893, with an estate of over $285,000.”

The article summarizes that Los Angeles in the 1890s was ahead of other parts of the country in women's rights. For example, men in Los Angeles routinely named their wives as executrix of the estate. Relatively few men tied up legacies to a wife or daughter in a trust or a life estate, choosing instead to give the beneficiary an outright interest in the property.  I would be interested to see how the history compared to women living at the same time in Ontario and the rest of Canada.

Sarah Hyndman Fitzpatrick

Full post as published by Toronto Estate Law Blog on February 27, 2008 (boomark / email).