summary. the open window tiated because one of them was on his or her deathbed, but what was most common was that the couple prepared a deed of gift in advance. Most gifts between spouses in Stockholm took place between childless, middle-aged couples. They had the right to donate one third of their half of their property. The beneficiary of the gift was the surviving spouse, regardless of gender, and meant that the beneficiary could extend his or her right to half the property by another third. In total, the surviving spouse received 4/6 ownership of the couple’s common property. This third was deducted from the biological heirs of the deceased. Property was added to the surviving spouse at the heirs’ expense, as Godding points out. In Stockholm, heirs thus were deprived a part of their portion of an inheritance. When the gift was received by the surviving spouse, the documents were formulated as if the widow or the widower inherited, in their own right, from his or her spouse. According to Swedish town law, spouses were not entitled to inherit from each other, but married couples in Stockholm nevertheless had made each other heirs. To use Howell’s terminology, immovable property had become partible between spouses. Hence, during marriage, the wife’s right to dispose of immovable property was limited to when she needed care herself or when she and her husband wanted to make use of a will to give gifts to one another. When the wife needed personal care, she prepared such a written document with her husband’s approval. When she wanted to give him a gift, her husband must also be prepared to give from his property. It was unusual for a woman to make a sale or purchase as a wife and representative of the household, but this could occur when the husband was traveling. Administrative authority could, in practice and according to the law, be authorized to the wife when the husband was absent. When he was present in the household, she withdrew from such authority. Before the wife’s right to dispose of movable property, including chattels, is discussed, the wife’s right to dispose of immovable property that has 292 The wife’s right to dispose of her movable property
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