Family, Law, and Inheritance in America

A Social and Legal History of Nineteenth-Century Kentucky

Nonfiction, History, Americas, United States, 19th Century, Reference & Language, Law
Cover of the book Family, Law, and Inheritance in America by Yvonne Pitts, Cambridge University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Yvonne Pitts ISBN: 9781107241763
Publisher: Cambridge University Press Publication: May 20, 2013
Imprint: Cambridge University Press Language: English
Author: Yvonne Pitts
ISBN: 9781107241763
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Publication: May 20, 2013
Imprint: Cambridge University Press
Language: English

Yvonne Pitts explores inheritance practices by focusing on nineteenth-century testamentary capacity trials in Kentucky in which disinherited family members challenged relatives' wills. These disappointed heirs claimed that their departed relative lacked the capacity required to write a valid will. These inheritance disputes criss-crossed a variety of legal and cultural terrains, including ordinary people's understandings of what constituted insanity and justice, medical experts' attempts to infuse law with science, and the independence claims of women. Pitts uncovers the contradictions in the body of law that explicitly protected free will while simultaneously reinforcing the primacy of blood in mediating claims to inherited property. By anchoring the study in local communities and the texts of elite jurists, Pitts demonstrates that 'capacity' was a term laden with legal meaning and competing communal values about family, race relations and rationality. These concepts evolved as Kentucky transitioned from a conflicted border state with slaves to a developing free-labor, industrializing economy.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Yvonne Pitts explores inheritance practices by focusing on nineteenth-century testamentary capacity trials in Kentucky in which disinherited family members challenged relatives' wills. These disappointed heirs claimed that their departed relative lacked the capacity required to write a valid will. These inheritance disputes criss-crossed a variety of legal and cultural terrains, including ordinary people's understandings of what constituted insanity and justice, medical experts' attempts to infuse law with science, and the independence claims of women. Pitts uncovers the contradictions in the body of law that explicitly protected free will while simultaneously reinforcing the primacy of blood in mediating claims to inherited property. By anchoring the study in local communities and the texts of elite jurists, Pitts demonstrates that 'capacity' was a term laden with legal meaning and competing communal values about family, race relations and rationality. These concepts evolved as Kentucky transitioned from a conflicted border state with slaves to a developing free-labor, industrializing economy.

More books from Cambridge University Press

Cover of the book The Politics of Electoral Reform by Yvonne Pitts
Cover of the book Globalisation, Regionalism and Economic Interdependence by Yvonne Pitts
Cover of the book Principles of Digital Communication by Yvonne Pitts
Cover of the book Shakespeare and Renaissance Ethics by Yvonne Pitts
Cover of the book Small Arms Survey 2015 by Yvonne Pitts
Cover of the book The Indian Legal Profession in the Age of Globalization by Yvonne Pitts
Cover of the book Climate Change in the Polar Regions by Yvonne Pitts
Cover of the book An Introduction to Support Vector Machines and Other Kernel-based Learning Methods by Yvonne Pitts
Cover of the book Advanced Quantum Mechanics by Yvonne Pitts
Cover of the book Investing in Protection by Yvonne Pitts
Cover of the book The Royalist Republic by Yvonne Pitts
Cover of the book The Regionalisation of Competition Law and Policy within the ASEAN Economic Community by Yvonne Pitts
Cover of the book Personality, Values, Culture by Yvonne Pitts
Cover of the book The Value of Intellectual Styles by Yvonne Pitts
Cover of the book Seneca: Moral and Political Essays by Yvonne Pitts
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy