Inheritance & Descent

The law favors dower; it is the reward of chastity, therefore let it be preserved.

Doti lex favet; praemium pudoris est, ideo parcatur.

Source: Co. Litt. 31, 81; Jenk. Cent. 50; Jackson, *Latin for Lawyers* (1915), Max. 208; Weisman, 33a

Dower holds a favored position in the law — once it attaches, it can be defeated only by the wife's own consent or by divorce.

Where there is no marriage, there is no dower.

Ubi nullum matrimonium, ibi nulla dos est.

Source: Co. Litt. 32; 2 Bl. Comm. 130; Jackson, *Latin for Lawyers* (1915), Max. 1031b; Weisman, 33b

Dower is an incident of lawful marriage — without the marriage, the right to dower does not arise.

Inheritance is the succession to every right which the deceased had.

Haereditas est successio in universum jus quod defunctus habuerit.

Source: Co. Litt. 237; Dig. 50.17.62

The heir steps into the shoes of the dead — he takes all rights, all obligations, and all property that the ancestor lawfully held.

God alone makes the heir, not man.

Solus Deus haeredem facit, non homo.

Source: Co. Litt. 5, 7b; Broom, Max. 516; Weisman, 58o

The heir is determined by blood and by law, not by the contrivance of men — descent is a matter of divine and natural order, not human invention.

No one is heir to the living.

Nemo est haeres viventis.

Source: Co. Litt. 8a, 22b; 2 Bl. Comm. 70; 2 Bouv. Inst. n. 1694; Weisman, 58ll

A man has no heir while he lives — inheritance opens only at death, and no expectation of inheritance creates a present right.

The heir is part of his ancestor.

Haeres est pars antecessoris.

Source: Co. Litt. 22; Schoonmaker v. Sheely, 3 Hill (N.Y.) 165, 167

In law, the heir is treated as a continuation of the ancestor's legal identity — the ancestor lives on through the heir for purposes of right and obligation.