NULL
Skriv ut sidan - Questions resulting from Bouppteckning translation
Anbytarforum
Titel: Questions resulting from Bouppteckning translation
Skrivet av: Ingela Martenius skrivet 2012-09-15, 21:18
1. Wedding rings. No, not everybody had a wedding ring; men has never had them in Sweden (until the last decades) and women didn't necessarily have them. Wedding rings could be borrowed, either from the female bride-dressers (they had all sorts of equipment/gear/acccessories for a wedding) or sometimes from the church (that could also lend bridal crowns to virgin brides). However, betrothal rings were not uncommon (it was only after 1734 that church weddings constituted a legally valid marriage). But generally personal jewelry was just that, personal, and was distributed outside the estate inventory and quite often before the person actually died (remember that the purpose of the estate inventory was to assess the estate for taxes). There is far, far more antique farmers jewelry around than is accounted for in the estate inventories.
2. Dowries Dowries were very seldom in cash. Daughters spent years and years weaving, sewing, embroidering textiles appropriate for a bride to start a household with. I believe that in America it was referred to as a hope chest; here in Sweden it was a bride chest (brudkista). Sons spent years and years making tools and saving up cash (girls also tried to save up cash of course but had fewer opportunites for getting their hands on it). When a well-off farmer's daughter in southern Sweden (particularly Skåne) married, her bride chest (it wasn't just a single chest) could easily be worth half the value of the farm itself. Settling land and money as dowries on marrying children was something only the very rich (mostly noble) families did. Dowries were actually seen as pre-payment of the inheritance. Large gifts for whatever reasons (e.g. a dowry or an education paid for) was and is part of the estate, and should be taken into account. However, if all the children have received about equal amounts, it's what in Sweden is often called a zero-sum situation, meaning that it all evens out. And yes, if the surviving spouses were left with too little they would ask for the dowries and other gifts to be returned for a new distribution; this was particularly true if the widow didn't get her morning gift (morgongåva), the estate settled on her at her wedding for her upkeep as a widow (in England called her jointure). Why, as in the case you mention, all the children don't receive equal amounts when you sum up dowry and dividing what was left of the estate, is anybody's guess. You can - and could - divide the estate any way you want to, as long as all heirs are agreed.
3. Estate left in debt, who pays If the estate was left in debt, there were two options. First, of course, the estate was used to pay the debts as far as possible. After that the estate could be declared bankrupt, and the debt would go away. Or, the heirs paid for the debts. To declare a deceased person's estate bankrupt was very, very shameful for the family and if at all possible the debts would be paid by the family (the heirs).
4. 2 silver cups There were no savings banks in the old days, and even when they started they were mistrusted, particularly in the countryside. Cash was no use either, since money was subject to variations and fluctuations we couldn't imagine (even) today. E.g. there were two (even, for a limited time, three) currencies in Sweden for about a century, from the late 18th century - and the exchange rates between them merits a book of its own. So all savings were put into silver items, like spoons, cups, goblets, candle sticks - and in particular for women, silver jewelry. Silver kept its value, was proof against ifnlation, and could be readily exchanged into cahs - if it wasn't accepted as payment outright. Silver smiths carried two inventories, one following fashion and one which was the same for centuries. This last one was the savings accounts because if you had grandfather's five spoons, father's three spoons and you yourself wanted another spoon, it would look the same as the old ones. Often (I'd say always) silver items were paid in installments. Since silver and gold smiths acted as informal bankers; they kept the items until they were fully paid. So a couple of silver cups would be an average family savings - in a particular time and location. Most places spoons were far more popular than cups but perhaps these families had found that cups kept their value better. Or they were just more popular in this location, perhaps for some obscure reason we cannot guess at today.
5. Estate distribution Estate distribution was uninteresting to the authorities when the estate paid the death duties (a tax that went to the pauper's chest in every parish) unless the balance was too small in which case the tax was forgiven. So there was no need to put the distribution down in the estate inventory. In the 19th century this was changed, and the death duties assessed for every heir separately. When this happened the estate distribution is in the estate inventory (or should be); the estate inventory is stamped and the tax amount payable for every heir is written in. The distribution can be on a separate piece of paper but the estate wasn't released until the inventory - with the distribution - was stamped and the tax was paid. The stamped inventory was then shown to banks etc. so that accounts could again be accessed. These days there is no death duty in Sweden (the law was changed some five-six years ago), and so the distribution again is of no interest to the authorities.
Distribution between spouse and children: Except what has been set aside in a pre-nuptial agreement (which in Sweden can be made at any time during the marriage) as personal property, all property the two spouses own are pooled. The pooled property is then divided into two equal shares, one share belonging to each spouse (regardless of who owned what or how much before the marriage or who has earned more or who has bought a particular item etc.). The share - half the total property - is owned outright by the surviving spouse. This half-share is not inheritance since it belongs to each spouse whether living or dead (in a divorce situation e.g.). This has never changed. Before 1988 the deceased spouse's share was distributed according to a will (rare in Sweden) or equally among the children. Without the children's consent only half of the deceased spouse's share (i.e. 25 % of the total estate) could be willed away from any single child (if there were five children and the deceased parent wanted as much as possible to go to only four of them, the disadvantaged child would receive 5 % of the total estate or 10 % of the deceased parent's share, leaving the four lucky children each with 11.25 % of the total estate or 22.5 % of the deceased parent's share). To protect the surviving spouse he/she was entitled to an amount set every year by the authorities; if the 50 % share didn't come up to this the missing sum was taken out of the deceased spouse's share. Until 1988 the children had the right to claim their inheritance immediately. In 1988 the law was changed, but not as drastically as most people think. If there is no will, the surviving spouse can use the whole estate but cannot e.g. will it away. The law wanted to address the too common situation where the children forced their aged (and often ailing) mother (father) out of the house they had spent the last 50 or so years in - the home wouldn't have to be sold until both spouses were dead. Of course, this doesn't apply if there are children from a previous marriage, then the remaining spouse has to pay out the inheritance at once.
A note on Chris' post: Sons didn't inherit twice as much land (it was only land) as daughters everywhere in Sweden. Notable exceptions are Dalarna and parts of Småland.
The eldest son quite often didn't inherit the farm, much to many genealogists' surprise (they often ask, is it just my family that's odd or what?). Since most of the estate quite naturally consisted of the farm and there were no money nor other items to make up sibling's shares, the farm itself was divided. Now, there were laws against how small pieces a farm could be divided into, so the child taking over the farm had to buy his/her siblings out - a process that could take years. Except for noble families, where the property could be entailed (fideikommiss), male primogeniture really wasn't the absolute norm in Sweden.
Before 1921 husbands managed their wives' estates. They didn't own it and couldn't dispose of it any way they wanted. Mismanaged estates meant the husband could be sued in court (and not only sued, it was also a crime), not unheard of. Before 1858/1863 unmarried women of any age had their estates managed for them, but if the estates were mismanaged the woman could petition the court to declare her legally competent. The number of legally competent women rose dramatically from the late 18th century and was what prompted the law to be changed in 1858/1863 (unmarried women over 25 were legally competent, by application in 1858, automatically in 1863). There was probably less wilful mismanagement when it came to wives' estates since in most cases the husband had to live off the estate too, and leave it to their common children.