Michael Keroularios had stood surety for his brother over the dowry of the latter's wife, receiving one of his estates. When Michael became a criminal, she sued for her dowry and recovered the estate. But then she and her husband too fell foul of the law and they stopped the suit. Michael tried to have an inventory made of his brother's property. Eustathios Romaios, in judging the case, balanced the dowry rights of the wife against those of Michael, the guarantor (whose later actions were designed to support her more than himself)