engleski

The Equality of Spouses as Successors?(according to Austrian General Civil Code in the Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia)

Marital relationship as the basis for succession of spouses underwent a long development, conditioned on one hand by the importance of kinship, and on the other hand by the regulation of the legal status of women in marriage, family and society as a whole. Significant changes followed the adoption of modern civil codes. Thus, the Austrian General Civil Code introduced equality in succession of spouses regardless of whether the surviving spouse is a widow or widower. Yet the inheritance rights of spouses as successors remained dependent upon the inheritance rights that belonged to a wide circle of decedent´s relatives, the legal status of women and the regulation of property relations in a marriage. From the probate records of the Croatian-Slavonian courts arises that the surviving spouse was usually a widow, while the property that was entered in the estate was generally the only (immovable) property which the family had. This property was entered in the Land Register as belonging to the husband, or due to the existing regime of marital property, was regarded as the husband’s property. However, there is no doubt that the widow was involved in the creation of (or at least a part of) the property involved, especially in the lower social classes. Therefore, the right to use or right of ownership of part of the estate to which the surviving spouse, i.e. the widow, was entitled could be considered by no means an equitable solution. Contrary to the position of widow, for the widower, as the surviving spouse, no significant changes in terms of assets had occurred. A widower remained the registered owner of (family immovable) property, and if he acquired (any) rights to use or ownership of part of the estate of his wife, it was an estate of lesser value, and generally composed of movable property. Despite formal equality of spouses as successors according to the General Civil Code, the practice has therefore shown that no inheritance equality of spouses actually existed.

ABGB; spouses; gender equality; succession; Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia

nije evidentirano