[ULPIANUS libro trigesimo quarto ad edictum. ] §23.4.11.prCum pater dotem pollicitus fuerit et paciscatur, ne se uiuo petatur neue constante matrimonio dos petatur, ita pactum interpretandum diuus Seuerus constituit, quasi adiectum esset se uiuo: hoc enim ita accipiendum esse contemplatione paternae pietatis et contrahensium uoluntatis, ut posterior quoque pars conuentionis ad uitam patris relata uideatur, ne diuersa sententia fructum dotis ab oneribus matrimonii separet quodque indignissimum est, inducat ut non habuisse dotem existimetur.
[ULPIAN from the thirty-fourth book on the Edict.] When a father has promised a dowry and agrees that it should not be claimed during his lifetime nor that the dowry should be claimed while the marriage continues, the deified Severus decided that the agreement is to be interpreted as if "during his lifetime" had been added: for this must be so understood, in consideration of paternal affection and the intention of the contracting parties, that the latter part of the agreement also appears to refer to the lifetime of the father, lest a contrary opinion separate the fruit of the dowry from the burdens of marriage and—what is most unjust—lead to the conclusion that he is deemed not to have had a dowry.
quo rescripto hoc effectum est, ut, si quidem uiuo patre decesserit filia aut sine culpa sua diuorterit, omnimodo dos peti non possit, constante autem matrimonio mortuo patre peti possit.
By this rescript, the effect is that if indeed the daughter dies or divorces without her own fault during the lifetime of the father, the dowry cannot be claimed in any way, but if the father dies while the marriage continues, it can be claimed.