What was the nature of a widow's personal estate in Colonial America?
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Accepted answer
In the case of Washington, at least, things were a bit complicated, because of the time and place.
Daniel Parke Custis was the first husband of Martha Dandridge, later Martha Washington. It was this woman who inherited Daniel Custis' estate when he died and she became a widow.
In the 18th century, when an American woman married or remarrried, her property "belonged" to her husband for the duration of the marriage. I used scare quotes because what this meant was that the husband, in this case George Washington, would have the use of her property, such as her slaves. That is, he could use his wife's slaves to farm his property at Mt. Vernon.
But "title" remained in the hands of the wife (and Martha outlived George). Upon her death, the Custis estate was passed on to the remaining Custis heirs. The actual ownership by the Custis' (as opposed to Washington's control), meant that Washington could not free these slaves.
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