INHERITANCE CONTRACT. ID Roman law and in all modern legislations successions to the property of a husband or wife may be granted, in part at least, by the term of an ante-nuptial contract. In the late medieval customs of Germany reciprocal rights of inheritance might be established between any persons by contract (Erbrcri-iiderung. Erbrertrag), and the same result was attainable in Northern Trance by the establishments of 'reciprocal' testaments, which, unlike other testaments, were not revocable.
In reciprocal testaments were abolished by an ordinance of 1735; but the inheritance contract was recognized in nearly all the State codes of Germany and is recognized in the Ger man Imperial code. The inherita nee contract must be in writing and must be certified by a judge or a notary.
LimiTATioxs ON THE POWER Or TESTATION.
At Rome in the later Republican period efforts were made to limit the amount of legacies or special bequests. This end was attained, n.e. 40, by the Lex Falcidia, which provided that. lega cies should not exceed three-fourths of the net value of the entire estate. This did not affect
the power of the testator to make a stranger heir, to the total exclusion of his nearest kin. It was, however, possible for children or parents disinherited without cause, or for a brother or sister to whom 'a disgraceful person' was pre ferred, to attack as 'undutiful' a testament under which such natural heirs received less than one fourth of their intestacy share; and such an attack was quite likely to be successful if mental weakness could he shown on the part of the tes tator or undue influence on the part of the stranger heir. Justinian gave descendants and ascendants an absolute right to one-third, or, in some eases, to one-half of their intestacy shares, unless there was good ground for their disherison. All the modern civil codes give statutory shares to descendants and to parents, and all give a share I or at least usufruct in a share) to a surviving spouse. See HEIR;INHERITANCE; SUCCESSION AB I NTESTATO ; TESTAMENT.