writ of dower

WRIT OF DOWER, practice. A writ which lies for a widow claiming the specific 
recovery of her dower, no part having been yet assigned to her. It is 
usually called a writ of dower unde nihil habet. 3 Chit. Pl. 393; Booth, 
166. 
     2. There is another species, called a writ of right of dower, which 
applies to the particular case where the widow has received a part of her 
dower from the tenant himself, and of land lying in the same town in which 
she claims the residue. Booth, 166; Glanv. lib. 6, c. 4, 5. This latter writ 
is seldom used in practice.