A Message from the Registrar by Suzanne Palmer

 A Message from the Registrar by Suzanne Palmer 

Dower Rights--a new category for National Society Colonial Dames XVIIC. You can now submit an application or a supplemental with Dower Rights. Check all your applications, as now you can submit a supplemental for the wife if she qualifies. The Dower Rights of a married woman was another of the practices of colonial Virginia, as well as the rest of the English colonies. Dower rights were a protection to a wife so she would not be left out of her husband’s wealth after his death. Upon the death of a husband, a widow was entitled to one-third of her husband’s estate, thus her Dower Rights (as a wife) became her Dower Share (as a widow), often referred to as the Widow’s Third. The oldest son would inherit the entire property, but one-third of the estate was held in trust in the name of the widow, who could legally derive equity, rents, or income from her portion. After her death, her Dower Share would revert back to the heir.