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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §26.7.43.pr-26.7.43.1

Insolvency after Pupil's Death and Excessive Dowry Promised

Passage 3878 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The text discusses the release of a tutor from liability for a debt that becomes insolvent after the pupil's death, and analyzes the remedies, recourse based on management of affairs, exceptions, and security requirements when a curator promises a dowry exceeding his niece's estate.

[PAULUS libro septimo quaestionum. ] §26.7.43.prCum post mortem pupilli desinit esse nomen idoneum, tutor periculo eximitur.
When, after the death of the pupil, a debt ceases to be solvent, the tutor is released from liability.
§26.7.43.1Qui, cum esset fratris sui filiae curator, quadringenta dotis nomine marito eius se daturum promisit: quaero, an succurrendum sit ei, cum postea aere alieno emergente supra uires patrimonii eius dos promissa sit, quoniam in instrumento ita scriptum sit 'ille patruus et curator stipulanti spopondit'.
A person who, being the curator of his brother's daughter, promised to give her husband four hundred as dowry: I ask whether relief should be granted to him, when afterwards, owing to the emergence of debts, the promised dowry exceeds the resources of her estate, since it was written in the instrument: 'the said uncle and curator promised to the stipulator'.
mouet quaestionem, quod non ut de suo dotem daret, sed cum crederet rationem pupillarem sufficere, promisit.
The question arises because he promised not in order to give a dowry from his own property, but because he believed that the pupil's accounts were sufficient.
praeterea et illud hic potest tractari, ut, si sciens curator non sufficere promiserit, uel donasse uideatur uel, quoniam dolo fecit, non illi succurratur.
Furthermore, this also can be treated here: whether, if the curator promised knowing that it was not sufficient, he should be deemed to have made a gift, or, since he acted with malice, relief should not be granted to him.
respondi: curator cum officium suum egressus sponte se obligauerit, non puto ei a praetore subueniri debere, non magis quam si creditori puellae pecuniam se daturum spopondisset: sed is de quo tractamus si non donandi animo, sed negotii gerendi causa dotem promisit, habet mulierem obligatam et poterit dici etiam manente matrimonio eam teneri (quia habet dotem sic ut in collatione bonorum dicitur) uel certe post diuortium (siue exacta sit dos siue maneat nomen), quia potest efficere, ut ei accepto feratur.
I replied: since the curator, exceeding his office, voluntarily bound himself, I do not think he ought to be relieved by the praetor, any more than if he had promised to pay money to a creditor of the girl; but if the person we are discussing promised the dowry not with the intention of making a gift, but for the purpose of managing affairs, he has the woman bound to him, and it can be said that she is liable even while the marriage lasts (because she has the dowry in the sense described in the collation of property), or at least after divorce (whether the dowry has been exacted or the debt remains), because he can compel her to release him.
quod si mulier suum curatorem adimplere id, quod supra uires patrimonii eius in dotem dare promisit, non queat, curatorem quidem in hoc, quod superfluum est, per exceptionem releuari: mulier uero cautionem in maritum exponere debet, quod, si quandoque locupletior constante matrimonio facta fuerit, dotis reliquum marito seruat.
But if the woman cannot enable her curator to fulfill what he promised to give as dowry beyond the resources of her estate, the curator indeed is relieved by an exception in respect of the excess; however, the woman must give security to her husband that, if at any time during the marriage she should become richer, she will preserve the remainder of the dowry for her husband.

Notes

  1. §26.7.43.prnomen idoneum — The Latin word `nomen` means 'an entry in a ledger,' hence 'a debt' or 'a claim,' and `idoneum` means 'suitable' or 'solvent.' Here, it refers to a debt becoming uncollectible (the debtor becoming insolvent) after the death of the pupil, in which case the tutor is exempt from liability.
  2. §26.7.43.1stipulanti spopondit — A formulaic expression of the Roman verbal contract (stipulatio). `stipulari` refers to asking the question to extract a promise, and `spondere` refers to making the solemn promise in response. Here, it indicates that the curator personally bound himself to the husband (the stipulator) for the dowry.
  3. §26.7.43.1habet mulierem obligatam — 'Has the woman bound,' meaning that the curator has a right of recourse or claim for reimbursement against the niece based on the management of affairs (negotium gestum).
  4. §26.7.43.1accepto feratur — `accepto ferre` is a formal term in Roman law meaning to release a debt by acknowledging receipt (acceptilatio). Here, in the passive impersonal construction `accepto feratur`, it means that the curator can cause the woman to formally release him from his obligation.
  5. §26.7.43.1per exceptionem releuari — The subject of the infinitive `releuari` is `curatorem`. It indicates that the curator, if sued for the excess (superfluum) beyond the woman's actual estate, is relieved of the obligation to pay by raising an exception (exceptio).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §26.7.43.pr-26.7.43.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:26.7.43.pr-26.7.43.1

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