Page:An introduction to Roman-Dutch law.djvu/73

 Rh and obedience to their orders, and also in case of improper behaviour to inflict such moderate chastisement as may tend to improvement. Parents may not be sued by their children without leave of the Court, termed venia agendi. No marriage can be contracted by children without the consent of their parents. The parents are entitled on their decease to provide for the guardianship of their children.’

Whatever is here said of children must be understood to refer to minor children, for in the Roman-Dutch law parental power ceases when the child attains full age.

The incidents of the parental power described by Van der Linden may be developed as follows:

1. Custody and Control. The custody, control, and education of children belong to the father, and after his death to the person named in his will. Failing any such disposition the Court will appoint a fit person to act in this behalf, and in the absence of good cause to the contrary the mother will be preferred to remoter relatives or strangers. Remarriage is not in itself a ground of exclusion.

2. Administration. During the lifetime of both parents, and in the modern law until the father's death, the management of a minor child's property belongs to the father, except so far as the person from whom such property is