Dower or curtesy when no children

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  1. (a)

    1. (1) If a person dies leaving a surviving spouse and no children, the surviving spouse shall be endowed in fee simple of one-half (½) of the real estate of which the deceased person died seized when the estate is a new acquisition and not an ancestral estate and of one-half (½) of the personal estate, absolutely, and in his or her own right, as against collateral heirs.

    2. (2) However, as against creditors, the surviving spouse shall be invested with one-third (1/3) of the real estate in fee simple if a new acquisition, and not ancestral, and of one-third (1/3) of the personal property absolutely.

  2. (b) If the real estate of the deceased person is an ancestral estate, the surviving spouse shall be endowed in a life estate of one-half (½) of the estate as against collateral heirs and one-third (1/3) as against creditors.


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