LEGAL INHERITANCE IN UKRAINIAN SOCIETY IN X–XVII CENTURY

Abstract

In this article the essence of the institution of legal inheritance in the Ukrainian society of the X–XVII centuries is established. It is proposed to distinguish three stages of the development of this institution. In the X–XII centuries legal inheritance was regulated by barbaric consuetudinary law, since the XI century it was fixed in Russka Pravda. The heirs were the sons of the deceased; daughters got a share of parental property in the form of a dowry. The widow had the right to dispose of the property, but until she remarried. The property of persons who did not have sons was considered to be extortionate and was passed to the prince. Inheritance by will actually coincided with legal inheritance in terms of the circle of heirs. In the XIII – early XVI century hereditary relations were regulated by the rules of feudal law, fixed both in written law and in legal customs. The circle of legal heirs was expanded, daughters were allowed to inherit as well as sons, but all landowners were obliged to ensure military service from the estates. If there were no children, other relatives and a widow could inherit. The property of persons who had no relatives was considered extortionate and was passed to the prince. In the late XVI and XVII century the feudal law, including hereditary, was transformed into early modern. The institution of legal inheritance became more complicated and consisted of the rules of written and consuetudinary law, its formation was also influenced by legal practice. As a result, there was a certain dualism of inheritance by law: the practice was not the same for the privileged classes and the common population. Among the social elite, along with the recognition of women's inheritance rights, the restrictions on the inheritance of parental property by married women were deleted, and the inheritance rights of other relatives were expanded. The unprivileged urban and rural population in the practice of legal inheritance used archaic norms of consuetudinary law, which were formed in previous periods.