No one who had lawful heirs was allowed to dispose of his property before his death without the assent of these heirs.
“No man shall divide a property or inheritance before the owner allows it, until men see that he spoils it. As long as a man has his wits and can manage his farm and bargains, and is able to ride on horseback and drink ale, he shall rule his property, and no man is allowed to divide it; if it is divided it shall not be kept” (Gulath., 126).[[82]]
“When two daughters inherit from their father, and one has a daughter and the other a son, the son can redeem (the land) from his kinswomen according to law. But if this son has only daughters, while the daughter of his mother’s sister has a son, he can redeem the land from them for the same sum as was paid to his mother. Then the land shall remain where it is, for it has come three times under spindle” (Gulath., 275).
The nearest of kin inherited the property, and the rules regulating the inheritance are these:—
“A son shall take inheritance after his father if it goes as it ought, and an adopted son like one family-born; and if things go badly (if the son dies) the father inherits from his son if the latter has no heir.
“The second inheritance is the one which a daughter and son’s son take, if he and also his father are lawfully born.
“If two lawfully born son’s sons are inheritance-born, and the one’s father is lawfully born and the other’s not, then the first shall take the inheritance.
“Brothers who have the same father inherit from each other. When a brother dies, the sister born of the same father gets the inheritance.
“A father’s father, and father’s brother, and brother’s son each inherit a third.
“The sixth inheritance is taken by a brother of the same mother (half-brother), and by a brother’s sons.