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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §23.4.26.pr-23.4.26.5

Presumption of Survival and Agreements on Dowry

Passage 3485 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This chunk records the responses of Papinianus regarding various agreements on dowry, addressing the presumption of survival, the pre-taking of wrongly paid dowry, the invalidity of agreements for third parties, and the fiscus's rights upon a father's criminal condemnation.

[PAPINIANUS libro quarto responsorum. ] §23.4.26.prInter socerum et generum conuenit, ut, si filia mortua superstitem anniculum filium habuisset, dos ad uirum pertineret: quod si uiuente matre filius obisset, uir dotis portionem uxore in matrimonio defuncta retineret.
[PAPINIANUS, from the fourth book of Responses.] An agreement was made between a father-in-law and his son-in-law that, if the daughter died leaving a surviving one-year-old son, the dowry should belong to the husband; but if the son died while the mother was still living, the husband should retain a portion of the dowry upon the wife's death during the marriage.
mulier naufragio cum anniculo filio periit.
The woman perished in a shipwreck along with her one-year-old son.
quia uerisimile uidebatur ante matrem infantem perisse, uirum partem dotis retinere placuit.
Because it seemed likely that the infant had perished before the mother, it was decided that the husband should retain a portion of the dowry.
§23.4.26.1Uir dotem, quam ex pacto filiae nomine retinere potuit, si lapsus errore non retinuit, filiam, quae patris sola, matri pro parte heres exstiterit, apud arbitrum diuisionis non improbe dotis perperam a patre solutae praeceptionem desiderare constitit.
It was held that if a husband, who by virtue of an agreement could have retained the dowry in the name of his daughter, did not retain it because he fell into an error, the daughter—who became the sole heir to her father and an heir for a share to her mother—could, before the arbiter of division, not improperly desire the pre-taking of the dowry wrongly paid by her father.
§23.4.26.2Cum inter patrem et generum conuenit, ut in matrimonio sine liberis defuncta filia dos patri restituatur, id actum inter contrahentes intellegi debet, ut liberis superstitibus filia defuncta dos retineatur, nec separabitur portio dotis additamenti causa data, si postea nihil aliud conueniat.
When an agreement is made between a father and his son-in-law that, if the daughter dies during the marriage without children, the dowry shall be restored to the father, it must be understood as the intention of the contracting parties that, if children survive when the daughter dies, the dowry shall be retained; nor shall a portion of the dowry given by way of addition be separated, unless something else is agreed upon later.
§23.4.26.3Conuenit, ut mulier uiri sumptibus quoquo iret ueheretur, atque ideo mulier pactum ad litteras uiri secuta prouinciam, in qua centurio merebat, petit.
It was agreed that the woman should be transported at her husband's expense wherever she went, and therefore, following the agreement according to her husband's letter, she sought the province in which he was serving as a centurion.
non seruata fide conuentionis licet directa actio nulla competit, utilis tamen in factum danda est.
Although no direct action lies if the good faith of the agreement is not kept, an equitable action based on the facts must nevertheless be granted.
§23.4.26.4Filia cum pro se dotem promitteret, pepigit, ut, si in matrimonio sine liberis decessisset, matri suae dos soluatur.
When a daughter promised a dowry on her own behalf, she agreed that, if she died during the marriage without children, the dowry should be paid to her mother.
pacto filiae nulla matri quaeritur actio: si tamen heres puellae matri pecuniam dotis soluerit, uiro contra placita petenti dotem obstabit exceptio.
By the agreement of the daughter, no action is acquired for the mother; however, if the heir of the girl pays the money of the dowry to the mother, an exception will bar the husband who, contrary to the agreement, demands the dowry.
§23.4.26.5Pater, si filia nupta mortem obisset, dotem dari stipulatus est: constante matrimonio capitali crimine damnatus est.
A father stipulated that the dowry should be given if his married daughter died; during the marriage, he was condemned for a capital crime.
diuortio secuto uel morte uiri soluto matrimonio stipulationis condicio deficit: quod si mulier in matrimonio decesserit, ex stipulato fisco dotis actio quaereretur: post uerum autem diuortium renouatis nuptiis non committitur fisco stipulatio, licet defuncta sit in matrimonio filia, quoniam ad primas nuptias pertinet.
If the marriage is dissolved by a subsequent divorce or by the death of the husband, the condition of the stipulation fails; but if the woman dies during the marriage, the action for the dowry from the stipulation would be acquired for the fiscus. However, after a genuine divorce, if the marriage is renewed, the stipulation is not forfeited to the fiscus even if the daughter dies during the marriage, because it relates to the first marriage.

Notes

  1. 23.4.26.prante matrem infantem perisse — An accusative-with-infinitive clause serving as the complement of the verb `uidebatur` ("it seemed that the infant had perished before the mother"). It reflects the classical Roman legal presumption of simultaneous death in shipwrecks (`naufragio`), where an infant (`infans`) is presumed to have died before the mother (`mater`).
  2. 23.4.26.1Uir dotem... constitit — This sentence features a complex nested structure. The main clause centers on the impersonal verb `constitit` ("it was held/established"), which takes the accusative-with-infinitive clause `filiam ... desiderare` ("that the daughter desires...") as its subject. The opening words `Uir ... non retinuit` form a conditional clause (`si ... non retinuit`), where `Uir` is the subject. The relative clause `quae ... exstiterit` modifies `filiam` and coordinates two predicate nouns: `patris sola [heres]` ("sole heir to her father") and `matri pro parte heres` ("heir for a share to her mother"). `praeceptionem` is the direct object of `desiderare`, and `dotis...` is its limiting genitive.
  3. 23.4.26.4pacto filiae nulla matri quaeritur actio — `pacto` is an ablative of means/cause ("by the agreement"), and `filiae` is its subjective genitive ("of the daughter"). `matri` is a dative of advantage ("for the mother"), modifying the verb `quaeritur` ("is acquired"). Under the Roman law principle that contracts cannot benefit third parties directly, no action is acquired for the mother who was not a party to the agreement.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §23.4.26.pr-23.4.26.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:23.4.26.pr-23.4.26.5

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