LEX VOCONIA

lex Voconia (leks v<<schwa>>-koh-nee-<<schwa>>). [Latin] Roman law. A law enacted in 169 B.C. to regulate inheritance (esp. by women) by capping the amount receivable by anyone as legacy or gift in view of death at no more than the heirs took. • The Falcidian law superseded the lex Voconia. — Also termed Voconian law. See FALCIDIAN LAW.

“Lex Voconia …. Contained several provisions concerned with the law of succession: (1) No woman could be heir … to an estate having a value greater than a fixed amount …. (2) Admitted among female agnates only the sisters of the deceased to intestate succession. (3) No one person — male or female — could receive by legacy more than the heir (or all heirs together) instituted in the last will.” Adolf Berger, Encyclopedic Dictionary of Roman Law 561 (1953).

 [Blacks Law 8th]