In the English speaking world during the first part of the 19th century, women were considered either too frivolous or even weak-minded to be entrusted with their inherited wealth, control of which transferred to the husbands upon marriage.
It wasn't until the 1848 Married Women's Property Act was passed by New York State that women got the right to keep their own wages and to own property in their own name. Some other states began to pass their own acts along the same lines and by 1900 all of them had done so.
Across the Atlantic in England, the Married Women's Property Act of 1870 allowed them to keep earned and inherited property. This was later superseded by the broader 1882 Act which also served as a model for British territories abroad.
Again, it might surprise people to learn that until the mid-1970s financial institutions like banks routinely denied married women in the U.S. loans or credit cards in their own name. The Equal Credit Opportunity Act, signed by Gerald Ford into law in 1974, finally put an end to this kind of discrimination.
Beware however, that women's rights have had ups and downs throughout history. As an example, consider Ancient Egypt where women enjoyed a legal status of equality with men. They retained their property even after marriage, and property jointly acquired with husbands belonged one-third to the wife. They could dispense with their wealth as they wished.
An example is the will of Naunakht (Writings from Ancient Egypt by Toby Wilkinson - Penguin Classics) drawn up in the third year of the reign of Ramses V. Thus it has been dated with precision to 1147 B.C. She had fourteen witnesses signifying the importance of a will and perhaps also to preclude any contesting of it.
Naunakht married twice, first a scribe and then a tomb workman named Khaemnun. No children from the first marriage but four boys and four girls from the second. Naunakht makes it quite clear she wants to dispossess three of her children and leave her property to the five who have looked after her in her old age. However, she cannot prevent the three she disinherits from inheriting their father's property.
About a year after the will was made, the whole family had to appear before a court for a second legal hearing to confirm that they would respect the terms of the will.
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