Despite our best efforts to craft legislation to enable dower to be abolished, it will remain part of Ohio real estate title law for the foreseeable future.  Our firm invested considerable time drafting legislation narrowly tailored to address the sole purpose asserted by Ohio domestic lawyers for keeping dower in Ohio.  The domestic lawyers sole stated purpose is to limit or curb equity stripping by title holding spouses in marital residences, which may thereby harm non-title holding spouses.  Members of the Ohio State Bar Association Real Property Section then helped us refine that language.  The Ohio Land Title Association has decided that it does not support the proposed spousal share legislation as drafted.
If this legislative initiative or anything similar to it ever moves forward at any point in the future, rest assured, our firm will continue to be part of the process.