Free bench

Free bench ("francus bancus"), in English law, is the interest which a widow has in the copyhold lands of her husband, corresponding to dower in the case of freeholds. It depends upon the custom of the manor, but as a general rule the widow takes a third for her life of the lands of which her husband dies seised, but it may be an estate greater or less than a third. If the husband surrenders his copyhold and the surrenderee is admitted, or if he contracts for a sale, it may defeat the widow's freebench. However, in many manors, the custom was for the wife to be examined apart from her husband as to her consent; in these cases, a surrender by the husband alone presumably did not bar her right after his death. As freebench is regarded as a continuation of the husband's estate, the widow did not (except by special custom) require to be admitted.

It is referred to as a "bench" because, upon assenting to the estate, the widow becomes a tenant of the manor, and one of the "benchers", "i.e." people who sit on the bench occupied by the peers of the court ("pares curiae").

Free bench seems to have its origins in what is referred to in German as "Beisitz", the widow's right to remain in the house along with the heirs. This right, in time, developed into an exclusive right to some of her husband's property.

The term was called frank bank in medieval Law French.

References

*Polloc, Frederick. "The History of English Law Before the Time of Edward I".