The Law of Inheritance

The Law of Inheritance

Publications & Reports

Bleek discusses marriage law distinctions concerning the Law of Inheritance and the alienation of complex assets in Roman-Dutch Law and divergent English Common Law systems. The Western and Eastern Provinces disagree on which system best serves the interests of the public, with Bleek recommending Roman-Dutch Law's superior protection of women and children's assets from those who may otherwise lawfully squander them. Bleek maintains that the less emphatic English Common Law is more susceptible to abuse, burdening parents (on a presumption of literacy) with the formulation of settlements.

Printed newsprint glued on paper

02/06/1864

Two cut out columns of newsprint text, positioned vertically parallel, pasted onto a plus-sized A4 unlined sheet with visible warping. "Law of Inheritance" is subsequently handwritten onto the mount/paper backing.

An original cutting of a Victorian article (no thematic title included in the cut out) by WHI Bleek. Published in Het Volksblad on Thursday, June 2nd, 1864. Roman-Dutch Law offers an innate protection whereas English Common Law is classist in its operation. Settlements were typically drawn up at the time of a marriage (e.g. a trust of land). This subject may have been inspired by Jemima and Lucy Lloyd's unpleasant experience with their father concerning a direct bequest left to them from their mother (Bank, 2006: 48).