Throughout American history, marital property reform has been a concern of farm women. With most of the farm family's business assets in real estate, women without the right of ownership can find that they have limited wealth and no influence in the distribution of the farm's assets. The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws has recommended that all states adopt the Uniform Marital Property Act (UMPA), which requires the sharing of family assets between the spouses. UMPA enactment would assure partial ownership of new farm acquisitions to presently married farm women, and would guarantee shared ownership to newly married women. This paper describes the historical background of marital property legislation and then uses United States data to examine the effects of property rules upon joint spousal landownership. The characteristics of women who own farmland and those who do not are identified. The age and farm experience of women are included among the characteristics described. Implications are drawn concerning the future impact that UMPA may have on American farm women. (NB)