LEGAL PROTECTION FOR WIVES IN UNREGISTERED MARRIAGES: ACCESS TO INHERITANCE RIGHTS AND JOINT PROPERTY: LEGAL PROTECTION FOR WIVES IN UNREGISTERED MARRIAGES: ACCESS TO INHERITANCE RIGHTS AND JOINT PROPERTY

Asrat Nita Wati; Yusuf Hanafi  Pasaribu; Zetria  Erma

doi:10.56107/penalaw.v4i2.330

Authors

Asrat Nita Wati Universitas Pembinaan Masyarakat Indonesia
Yusuf Hanafi Pasaribu Universitas Pembinaan Masyarakat Indonesia
Zetria Erma Universitas Pembinaan Masyarakat Indonesia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.56107/penalaw.v4i2.330

Keywords:

judicial validation; legal protection; marital property; unregistered marriage; women's inheritance

Abstract

Unregistered marriage does not automatically extinguish women's civil rights. This article examines wives' legal status, inheritance, marital property, evidence, judicial validation, and constitutional protection through normative research using statutory, conceptual, case, comparative, and gender approaches. The study finds that absence of a certificate creates recognition, evidentiary, administrative, and enforcement gaps. A wife neither automatically acquires nor loses all rights. Marriage status must be established; marital property separated before calculating the estate; and Constitutional Court Decision 46/PUU-VIII/2010 protects a child without automatically validating the mother as wife. Reform should integrate courts, registrars, civil records, and legal aid.

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LEGAL PROTECTION FOR WIVES IN UNREGISTERED MARRIAGES: ACCESS TO INHERITANCE RIGHTS AND JOINT PROPERTY