DOI: 10.47743/jss-2025-71-5-4

Faculty of Law, “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iași

Abstract: The inheritance rights of the surviving spouse, and implicitly the concern for ensuring his or her well-being, have evolved over time alongside the institution of inheritance itself, the emancipation of women in society, and the transformation of perspectives on marriage and family relations within society. From the very beginning, blood kinship was the sole foundation of legal succession. Since the surviving wife was not considered a blood relative of the deceased, she was often left at the end of the line of succession, dependent on the goodwill of the other heirs. 18 This paper aims to provide a comparative analysis of the inheritance rights of the surviving spouse, both in concurrence with any class of legal heirs and in their absence, as well as to examine the spouse’s position within the legal order of succession and within family relations. The study seeks to determine the extent to which the legislator has ensured the surviving spouse’s welfare, with reference to Romanian, French, and Californian law

Keywords: surviving spouse, inheritance, comparative law, inheritance rights

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