The legal construction and handling of mothers and motherhood is one of the few areas of familial law that has received a good amount of scholarly attention. Women in late Roman law have been well covered, while the Frankish laws have been thoroughly examined. There are two primary foci of the codes concerning motherhood: the function of the mother as a conduit of property to her children, and the role of the mother as a guardian of her children after the death of the father. In both of these aspects, the law was concerned with one thing above all else: preventing the mother from taking ownership of property she had no right to own, even though she might possess it in usufruct. The protection of the children's inheritance was the primary objective, with the protection of the mother from destitution secondary. It is still notable that the protection of mothers was a concern at all and serves to highlight the self-perceived role of the lawmakers to safeguard women.

In all the codes, maternal and paternal property is kept distinctly separate, as can be seen in the laws which concern property ownership after the death of a husband or wife. In all the Frankish laws, the Burgundian and the Visigothic, both the mother and the father are compelled to maintain their deceased partner's property in usufruct for their children, forbidden from changing or alienating the property in any way. In all the codes, if a mother dies her property is eventually inherited by the woman's children, and is only maintained by their father in usufruct until they are of age. In this way, the mother and child are recognised as a single unit, separate from the mother's agnate line. The woman's parents and siblings inherit only if she has no children; children are the primary heirs of both maternal and paternal property. Thus, all property stays within the conjugal unit of parents and children, passing from the deceased parent to the surviving parent in usufruct and then to the children. Family members outside of that conjugal unit have no inheritance rights once children are born.