Wills in Denmark

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In older times, the legal system probably only recognized slægtsarv, so that the relatives shared a deceased various debris.

Spouses are not inherited

Relatives were obviously first and foremost children, and until the law of 29 December 1857 should children be baptized to receive bequests, and sons inherited literally lion's share, with a broderlod was twice as big as a søsterlod. Had the deceased had no children, it was parents, siblings and cousins who inherited. Spouses originally had no succession after each other. Danish Law of 1683 gave a surviving spouse entitled to inheritance if they were born children of the marriage. The law stipulated that the immediate kept changing, but you could however get Royal appropriation to sit in Undivided possession live.

The condition that there should be children of a marriage of the parties automatically inherit each other, was only lifted in 1845.