Legal Definitions - cui ante divortium

cui ante divortium

cui ante divortium was a legal document that allowed a woman who had been divorced to recover land that she owned but her husband had sold without her permission during their marriage. The name of this document comes from the Latin phrase "cui ipsa ante divortium inter eos celebratum, contradicere non potuit," which means "whom she, before the divorce between them, could not gainsay." This document was abolished in 1833.

An example of cui ante divortium would be if a woman owned a piece of land before she got married. During the marriage, her husband sold the land without her permission. If they later got divorced, the woman could use cui ante divortium to recover the land that was rightfully hers.