Los Angeles Probate Files Tell the History of Women’s Inheritance Rights

Kristine S. Knaplund (Professor of Law, Pepperdine University School of Law), has recently published her article entitled The Evolution of Women’s Rights in Inheritance, 19 Hastings Women’s L.J. 3 (2008).

Here are excerpts from the conclusion to her article:

The probate files are a rich source of information about the lives of women and men in Los Angeles as it transitioned and grew into a major city. The availability of land and the use of promissory notes allowed the industrious the opportunity to save money and leave an estate to their families and friends. Ten women left estates over $10,000 in 1893 dollars, compared with twenty-two men. Of these, one woman began as a maid from Ireland who ended up being the richest woman dying in Los Angeles in 1893, with an estate of over $285,000. ***

These files demonstrate that, in some ways, Los Angeles in the 1890s was ahead of other parts of the country in women’s rights. For example, men in Los Angeles routinely named their wives as executrix of the estate, unlike those in Pennsylvania. Relatively few men tied up legacies to a wife or daughter in a trust or a life estate, choosing instead to give the beneficiary fee simple rights to the property.