<![CDATA[This study examines wives’ economic contributions in Merangin Regency’s matrilineal customary community and their implications for marital property and inheritance distribution under simultaneous customary, Islamic, and national legal systems. A normative-empirical approach integrated normative analysis of customary norms, Islamic family law, and national legislation with qualitative legal ethnography. Data came from in-depth interviews with working wives, husbands, ninik mamak, and Islamic scholars, plus field observations, customary documents, and comparative legal literature in Tanjung Putus and Pematang Pauh villages (May–July 2024). Findings reveal “recognition without protection”: strong informal social recognition, integrative but implicit customary recognition, and paradoxical Islamic legal recognition. Although marital property is recognized as harta pencarian, ambiguity persists over wives’ individual entitlements, and economic contributions do not alter faraid inheritance shares. The study introduces the “Three Layers of Recognition” framework, addressing a gap in understanding women’s economic roles within customary inheritance and legal pluralism. Pre-inheritance determination of marital property is the critical point for legal harmonization: wives’ individual property and recognized share must be identified, separated, and settled before estate distribution. This research strengthens substantive protection of wives’ economic rights while preserving applicable inheritance principles, offering a legal harmonization model for plural legal contexts.]]>
