G2G: Were estate appraisals, inventories, and sales always in the name of the husband in 1860?

Question

[[Turner-766|James Turner]] died on 21 Sep 1851 in Green, Kentucky.  His wife [[Johnston-10379|Mary]] died a decade later on 21 Feb 1860.  The documents that I found for his estate's appraisals, inventories, and sales in Mar 1861 only mention 'James Turner deceased', no mention of Mary.  Was that customary in Kentucky in 1861 that estates were always in the name of the husband, even if he pre-deceased his wife by many years?

"Kentucky Probate Records, 1727-1990," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9P9W-S4G?cc=1875188&wc=37RN-N3F%3A173389101%2C173441901 : 20 May 2014), Green > image 187 of 274; county courthouses, Kentucky.

Answer 1

http://digitalcommons.nyls.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1279&context=fac_articles_chapters  there is a lot of info in this dissertation.  

If you look at a footnote on page 10 of the pdf (not the printed page) you will see that it says some states prohibited women from making wills and mentions Kentucky.  

In some places (and this is going to vary by location in the US) women could not enter into contracts, make wills, and of course vote.  The 19th Amendment was passed on June 4, 1919 by Congress and ratified on August 18, 1920.