The primary focus of attention for the codes in terms of family law, far more so than any other genre, is the division of the patrimony upon the death of the parents. We have already seen this focus on property at the point of betrothal, marriage and death. The protection of property is very much a central concern of all the legal texts and this is consistent with both classical Roman law and late Imperial law. The amount of time and energy expended by the law-makers on describing and regulating the multifarious ways in which a patrimony could be divided depending on the innumerable possible combinations of surviving relatives has driven the secondary literature to focus on concepts of inter-generational conflict and to place patrimony at the centre of a resource-focused and somewhat mercenary parent-child relationships.

Patrimony is certainly central to parent-child relationships, particularly regarding the father, in the legal texts. Behaviour concerning inheritance defined, legally at least, what it meant to be a ‘good’ father and child. As seen in the legal codes, patrimony appears at almost all significant points of a child's life course as seen in the legal codes, most notably at birth, at the birth of their own children and at death. We might speculate that it is also raised obliquely at the point of his marriage as he or his father gives the dos, wittimon, or morgengabe, which potentially came from his own portion. There are several important aspects to patrimony that are worth examining, and have not received the consideration they deserve: first, the importance of the father's moral and legal duty to provide a patrimony, including the emotional meaning of the patrimony, secondly, the complex interplay of obligation, obedience and respect legally and morally owed by the son in return for his father fulfilling his duty. Finally, the importance of the right to inherit, and the legal and cultural differentiation between ‘offspring’ and ‘heir’ are examined.

The father's role as the provider of a patrimony is at the forefront of parent/ child relations as depicted in the codes. It is made particularly clear in two forms of legislation: that concerning disinheritance and that concerning illegitimate children. Both manifestations highlight very different aspects of this paternal duty and its multifaceted importance to the legal compilers.