The questions call into play both the ancient law of England and the variations of those old principles by the American colonies/States. Because of those variations from time to time and place to place, I speak only of VA and NC. From the earliest times, The English law recognized an inchoate interest (an interest that MIGHT - MIGHT - vest (come to reality) in the wife if she outlived her husband. The purpose was to protect and provide a measure of sustenance for widows. That claim - I did not say right - was in the profits and rents in 1/3 of the land he owned during the marriage, in addition to her [privilege to live on the property for her lifetime - a "life estate". Those inchoate rights vested in the widow at his death intestate only, but notice that she came to the same rights (almost) if he died testate yet did not by will provide her with interests equal to what would have been her "dower". Notice also that her dower rights were extinguished in all real estate as to which she joined in a conveyance - deed, usually - from her husband to other persons. It is from that basic principle that we now may guess - GUESS - that if no wife signs a man's deed, then at that date he was not married. Nevertheless, as Lou has stated, one may not rely on that inference, since at times the instrument by which she consented to his sale may be separate and distinct and may not have found its way to the records we now examine. Then too, again as Lou mentioned, some clerks on the fringes of settlement were prone for whatever reasons to not follow the "letter" of the law in that regard, and finally, some men simply sold land when away from those who knew him and stated that he was not married, when indeed he was. ****Plus, those states that were once under the Napoleonic Code, or adopted it, had their own provisions -- these include, e.g., Louisiana and Texas (who use "community property" rights instead of dower rights). ****Correct .... And I have seen several examples of transfer of land without dower rights among members of the same family; apparently all parties thought there would never be a court contest involving clear title in these cases, and so did not go to the trouble (and expense?). ********* Correct, but very seldom So, lack of dower right release, while it might tell you something about probability, is not, by itself, hard proof that there was no wife. (I wish it were - it would make some of my family riddles easier to solve.) ****well stated. Paul To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html