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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §26.2.26.pr-26.2.26.2

Invalidity of Mother as Tutor and Supervisory Guardianship

Passage 3772 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Papinian discusses the invalidity of appointing a mother as tutor by a father's will, the non-honorary status of tutors with financial supervisory power, and the source of authority for a tutor confirmed by the praetor for a disinherited son.

[PAPINIANUS libro quarto responsorum. ] §26.2.26.prIure nostro tutela communium liberorum matri testamento patris frustra mandatur, nec, si prouinciae praeses imperitia lapsus patris uoluntatem sequendam decreuerit, successor eius sententiam, quam leges nostrae non admittunt, recte sequetur.
[PAPINIANUS, from the fourth book of Opinions.] According to our law, the tutelage of common children is entrusted to the mother by the father's will in vain; nor, if the governor of a province, having erred through ignorance, decrees that the father's will must be followed, will his successor rightly follow a decision which our laws do not allow.
§26.2.26.1Honoris causa tutor datus non uidetur, quem pater a ceteris tutoribus, quibus negotia gerenda mandauit, rationes accipere uoluit.
A person whom the father wished to receive accounts from the other tutors, to whom he entrusted the administration of affairs, is not regarded as a tutor appointed for the sake of honor.
§26.2.26.2Propter litem inofficiosi testamenti ordinandam exheredato filio, cui tutorem pater dedit, eundem a praetore confirmari oportet: euentus iudicatae rei declarabit, utrum ex testamento patris an ex decreto praetoris auctoritatem acceperit.
For the purpose of arranging a lawsuit regarding an inofficious testament, for a disinherited son to whom the father gave a tutor, the same tutor must be confirmed by the praetor; the outcome of the adjudicated matter will declare whether he received his authority from the father's will or from the praetor's decree.

Notes

  1. §26.2.26.prlapsus — Perfect participle of the deponent verb labor, used with active meaning ("having erred") modifying the subject prouinciae praeses. imperitia is an ablative of cause ("through ignorance").
  2. §26.2.26.prsequendam — A gerundive with the infinitive esse omitted (sequendam esse), functioning as the predicate of the object clause of decreuerit ("decreed that [the father's will] should be followed").
  3. §26.2.26.1Honoris causa — A construction with the postposition causa, which governs the genitive ("for the sake of"). It means "for the sake of honor," referring to an honorary tutelage without actual administrative duties.
  4. §26.2.26.2ordinandam — A construction of "noun + agreeing gerundive in the accusative" introduced by the preposition propter. It modifies litem, expressing the purpose: "for the purpose of arranging a lawsuit."
  5. §26.2.26.2utrum — A particle introducing an alternative indirect question (utrum ... an ..., "whether ... or ...") which functions as the direct object of the verb declarabit. Consequently, the verb in the dependent clause, acceperit, is in the perfect subjunctive.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §26.2.26.pr-26.2.26.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:26.2.26.pr-26.2.26.2

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