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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §23.4.24.pr

Pact on Dowry Retention and Children Born Before Its Provision

Passage 3483 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The author explains that an agreement between spouses regarding the retention of a dowry applies validly to children born before the dowry was given or increased, provided they were born of the same marriage.

[FLORENTINUS libro tertio institutionum. ] §23.4.24.prSi inter uirum et uxorem pactum est, ut certa pars dotis uel tota ob unum uel plures liberos interuenientes retineatur, etiam eorum liberorum nomine, qui ante nati sunt, quam dos daretur aut amplietur, conuentio rata est: nam sufficit eos ex eo matrimonio nasci, in quo dos data est.
[FLORENTINUS, from the third book of Institutions.] If it has been agreed between husband and wife that a certain part or the whole of the dowry is to be retained on account of the existence of one or more intervening children, the agreement is valid also in respect of those children who were born before the dowry was given or increased; for it is sufficient that they are born of that marriage in which the dowry was given.

Notes

  1. §23.4.24.printeruenientes — The present participle "interuenientes" means "intervening" or "coming between," referring here to the existence (being born or surviving) of children between the spouses.
  2. §23.4.24.prante nati sunt, quam — The correlative "ante... quam" means "before." The verbs in the subordinate clause, "daretur" and "amplietur," are in the imperfect subjunctive because they present the giving or increasing of the dowry as a hypothetical or anticipated event in relation to the birth.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §23.4.24.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:23.4.24.pr

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