Extra-dotal property

In Louisiana law, extra-dotal property is that property which forms no part of the dowry of a woman (which would mean that her husband has certain rights to it^[1]), but is hers alone.^[2][3] It is also called "paraphernal property",^[4][5] from the Greek for "beyond the dowry", which gives us the word "paraphernalia".^[6]

The United States Supreme Court determined the extent and effect of extradotal law on the rights of married women in Louisiana in the case of Fleitas v. Richardson.

References

1. See Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure, Article 969.
2. Henry C. Black, Black's Law Dictionary, rev. 4th ed. 1968, p. 697, citing former Civil Code of Louisiana, Article 2335.
3. Fleitas v. Richardson, 147 U.S. 550, 553, 37 L.Ed. 276, 13 S.Ct. 495 ("Dotal property is that which the wife brings to the husband to assist him in bearing the expenses of the marriage establishment. Extradotal property . . . is that which forms no part of the dowry.").
4. Black, Black's Law Dictionary, rev. 4th ed. 1968, p. 697.
5. Fleitas v. Richardson, 147 U.S. at 553.
6. American Heritage Dictionary.

External links

• Fleitas v. Richardson.