COVERTURE

Coverture

Coverture was a legal doctrine whereby, upon marriage, a woman's legal rights and obligations were subsumed by those of her husband. Coverture was enshrined in the common law of England for several centuries and throughout most of the 19th century, influencing some other common-law jurisdictions. The idea was described in William Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England in the late 18th century. Coverture was first substantially modified by late 19th century Married Women's Property Acts passed in various common-law legal jurisdictions, and was weakened and eventually eliminated by subsequent reforms. Certain aspects of coverture survived as late ...

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coverture

Noun

  1. A common law doctrine developed in England during the Middle Ages, whereby a woman's legal existence, upon marriage, was subsumed by that of her husband, particularly with regard to ownership of property and protection.
  2. Shelter, hiding place.


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: coverture
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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