Daily AncestorPrivy examination
A privy examination was a judge or justice questioning a married woman apart from her husband to confirm she signed a deed freely, not under his pressure.
When a married woman wished to sell her property, a judge or justice of the peace examined her separately, out of her husband's presence, and asked whether her husband was pressuring her to sign. It was also called a separate examination.
The practice came from English common law and was meant to protect married women's property from overbearing husbands. A number of states kept it into the late 1900s.
As seen in a recordCertificate on a deed, 1800s
Polly Ross, wife of Saml. Ross, being privily examined apart from her said husband, declared she signed the same freely
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Daily Ancestor. "Privy examination." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/legal-land/privy-examination. Last checked 2026-10-12.