“My Last Husband and Marriage:” The Impact of Inheritance Disputes on Chinese Immigrants’ Widowhood in the United States

Abstract

This study explores the unique experiences of the emotional processing of the widowhood of individuals of the Chinese seniors, and immigrant background in the United States. By interviewing eight Chinese immigrant widows living in Phoenix, the United States, this study focuses on the comparison of social relations and lifestyles before and after their spousal loss, as well as the unique forces of their Chinese backgrounds and the transnational remarriages in their bereavement process, and then widow status. The narrative accounts of the participants therein illustrate that transnational marriage and blended families generate a series of practical challenges, including unexpected severed friendships and inheritance disputes between stepmother and stepchildren. The consequences are reflected in the increase of self-loathing and low self-esteem, the refusal to remarry, the rising anger at the betrayal of friends, as well as the rapid formation of a high level of independence and self-determination in such circumstances. These findings increase knowledge of widowhood of Chinese women with immigrant background, therein enrich ethno-cultural diversity in the widowhood studies.This study concludes with the implications of providing bilingual legal aid and counseling to Chinese-origin, US-based, and widows.