curtesy n. 鳏夫产；丈夫应得的亡妻遗产 在普通法上，当妻子死亡时，如果夫妻有合法子嗣存在，并可能继承遗产，那么其以已婚妇女身份享有的非限定继承地产权〔fee-simple〕或限定继承地产权〔in tail〕将授予其丈夫。这项制度又被称为英格兰鳏夫产〔curtesy of England〕，理由是它源于亨利一世甚至是撒克逊时代，但均无确证。在美国的一些立法中，已不再坚持夫妻要有子嗣存在这一条件，而只需妻子在死亡时对不动产享有所有权。现在，这一制度在大多数州已被取消或已作实质性改变。 (→dower)
curtesy (k[schwa]r-t[schwa]-see). At common law, a husband’s right, upon his wife’s death, to a life estate in the land that his wife owned during their marriage, assuming that a child was born alive to the couple. • This right has been largely abolished. Traditionally, the full phrase was estate by the curtesy of England (or