Marital power facts for kids

Marital power was an old legal idea in some countries. It meant that when a woman got married, her husband had legal control over her and her property. It was like the wife was not fully in charge of her own legal decisions. She often couldn't sign contracts, make a will, or go to court by herself without her husband's permission. This idea was similar to something called coverture in English law.

What Was Marital Power?

Marital power meant that a husband could manage both his wife's own money and property, as well as any property they shared as a couple. Imagine if you couldn't make decisions about your own things or sign important papers without someone else's approval – that's a bit like how it was for married women under this old law.

Where Did This Idea Come From?

This idea of marital power came from very old laws, especially from Germanic and Roman laws.

In ancient Roman times, when a woman married, she often moved from her father's control to the control of her husband or his family's leader, called the "pater familias". This person was like the head of the family and owned everything. Later, some Roman marriages allowed women to stay under their own family's authority. Eventually, women could become legally independent, but they still often had a male guardian.

The idea of marital power was also strong in Germanic laws. One old text described it as the husband's right to rule over his wife and manage her belongings, even deciding what happened to them.

This legal concept became part of the law in the Netherlands. When Dutch settlers came to the Cape (which is now in South Africa) in the 1600s, they brought these laws with them. Even after the British took over in 1805, these Roman-Dutch laws, including marital power, stayed in place. Because of this, marital power became part of the marriage laws in several Southern African countries, like South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, Botswana, and what is now Zimbabwe.

When Did Marital Power End?

Over time, many countries realized that marital power was unfair and outdated. Most of the Southern African countries that used this law have now gotten rid of it, except for Swaziland.

• In Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), marital power was ended in 1928.
• In France, the idea of marital power was officially abolished in 1938. However, it took many more years for married women to gain full legal equality with their husbands, which finally happened in the 1980s.
• In the Netherlands, marital power was abolished in 1958.
• In South Africa, efforts to change the law began in the 1940s. A law in 1953 limited marital power, but didn't completely get rid of it. Then, in 1984, a new law abolished it for most new marriages. Later amendments in 1988 and 1993 finally ended marital power for all civil marriages in South Africa, no matter when they started. It was also ended for marriages under traditional customary law in 2000.
• In Namibia, marital power was abolished in 1996.
• In Botswana, it ended in 2004.
• In Lesotho, it was abolished in 2006.

In Swaziland, marital power has been limited recently, but it has not been completely abolished yet.

See also

In Spanish: Autoridad marital para niños

• Baron and feme
• Marriage bar