DOWER AND CURTSEY

(A) An estate for life, which the law gives the widow in the third part of the lands and tenements, or hereditaments of which the husband, was solely seised, at any time during the coverture, of an estate in fee or in tail, in possession, and to which estate in the lands and tenements, the issue, if any, of such widow might, by possibility, have inherited. Watk. Prin. Con. 38; Litt. Section 36; 7 Greenl. 383. Vide Estate in Dower. This is dower at common law. 2. Besides this, in England there are three other species of dower now subsisting; namely, dower by custom, which is, where a widow becomes entitled to a certain portion of her husband’s lands in consequence of some local or particular custom, thus by the custom of gavelkind, the widow is entitled to a moiety of all the lands and tenements, which her husband held by that tenure. (B) The right of a surviving spouse (woman) to received a portion of the estate of a deceased spouse under law, usually 1/3 to 1/2 of the estate, depending upon the state. Dower refers to this portion that can be claimed by a surviving spouse while curtesy refers to the amount a man may claim. Given the inherent discrimination that exists with different portions based on gender, this term has basically been abolished and now this right is a statutory amount to any surviving spouse and is called the statutory share.