Dowable Interest Law and Legal Definition
The dowable interest of a wife or widow must be measured by the beneficial interest of the husband in the real property of which he is seised in his own right at the date of the mortgage, and during the marriage. If the husband's legal or inheritable estate in the property is held subject to a purchase-money mortgage, the dowable interest is likewise limited. If the husband possesses an unencumbered fee-simple title, the dowable interest extends to the whole estate and a mortgage of such property by the husband with release of dower by the wife to secure a debt of his own entitles her to the rights of a surety, and to her original dowable interest in the whole property or its proceeds when the debt of the husband is paid. [In re Hays, 181 F. 674 (6th Cir. 1910)].
