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onsider the plight of Lady Fiona Dunwythie who eloped at the age of 17 with a member of an enemy clan. A brutal, womanizing man, he has been missing for a fortnight.  Rumors are rife, since Fiona was the last to see him, and the two were arguing.  Let's add another wrinkle in that her good-father (i.e. her father-in-law) is dying, and Fiona’s brutal, womanizing, and now missing husband is the man’s only son.

As a widow, if Fiona is one, and if she had a tocher (dowry) that included “immovable property” (real estate), that property was considered to be her own domain. Any other property that she and her husband had or might inherit was her husband’s to control and their child’s to inherit unless the marriage was a contract marriage, with negotiated settlements that protected the property of both parties.

So, how did Scottish law affect a noblewoman in Fiona’s position? It depended on a number of factors, but she is in limbo until the status of her husband can be determined. Is he alive, or is he dead?