Patrimonial rights of the wife

Abstract

In 1975 marriage ceased to be the sole jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical courts and entered that of our superior courts. This produced a debate which cannot be concluded i.e. is marriage just another contract producing a do ut des situation or does it contain more than that ? This debate dominates all serious discussions pertaining to marriage. Usually this debate comes to the fore when marriages break down , when that fiducia disappears and the couple start living not as a couple but as two separate entities. Harmonious marriages will never send the couples to any lawyers office or through the niceties of our civil code but when these situations do materialize is when the articles established by law start to be criticised. This dissertation attempts to analyse some of the conflicting positions found at law without trying to evolve any radical reforms. In order to do this it is proposed to start with a brief introduction which discusses broadly the historic and social forces involved in these last hundred and fifty years in the evolution of the married couple's role as formulated in the law, and their patrimonial rights emphasizing on those of the wife.