As in most South American countries, women in Ecuador have fairly strong property rights, particularly in comparison to other regions of the world.2But to what extent are these property rights recognized in practice? Are women aware of their property rights and demand that these be honored? And are these rights sufficient to guarantee that women be able to accumulate assets on par with men over the life cycle and enjoy their benefits? In this paper we provide tentative answers to these questions based on field research in three provinces of Ecuador. Drawing primarily on data gathered through focus groups and interviews, we attempt to discern the extent to which women are aware of their property rights and how these are manifested in practice depending on a woman’s marital status and stage of the life cycle. To the extent possible, we highlight differences by region, rural/urban locale, social strata and generation. For example, under the default marital regime of partial community property, in case of divorce or widowhood women are entitled to half of the community assets accumulated during the marriage whether or not they contributed income directly to their purchase. Moreover, women in consensual unions have the same legal property rights as married women. In addition, in case of intestate death, the inheritance regime provides for the equal division of parental property among all children, irrespective of gender.