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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §26.8.20.pr

Tutor's Authorization of Inheritance Division without Signing

Passage 3916 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Scaevola's response stating that a division of inheritance among wards is valid if the tutor gave authorization, even if the tutor did not sign the instrument of division.

[SCAEUOLA libro decimo digestorum. ] §26.8.20.prInter pupillos paternae hereditatis uisio facta est praesente tutore, sed non adsignante instrumento diuisionis: quaesitum est, an ei stari oporteret.
[SCAEVOLA, in the tenth book of the Digests.] A division of a paternal inheritance was made between wards in the presence of their tutor, but without his signing the instrument of division: it was asked whether this division ought to be adhered to.
respondit, si tutor auctor fuisset, non idcirco minus standum esse diuisioni, quod non adsignasset.
He replied that, if the tutor had given his authorization, the division was none the less to be adhered to because he had not signed the instrument.

Notes

  1. §26.8.20.pruisio — While the word literally means 'beholding' or 'vision', it is widely understood here as a scribal error for diuisio (division), or used in legal practice to refer to an assessment or division, as supported by the subsequent occurrence of diuisioni.
  2. §26.8.20.prnon adsignante instrumento diuisionis — An ablative absolute construction where the subject of the participle adsignante (the tutor) is implied from the context, and instrumento diuisionis functions as the object (dative or ablative) of the signing. It means 'without the tutor signing the instrument of division.'
  3. §26.8.20.prei stari oporteret — An indirect question clause using the impersonal passive infinitive stari of the verb sto (to stand by, adhere to). The dative pronoun ei refers to the division (uisio / diuisio), meaning 'whether it (the division) ought to be adhered to.'
  4. §26.8.20.prnon idcirco minus standum esse diuisioni — The correlative construction non idcirco minus... quod... ('not for that reason any the less... because...') expresses a strong affirmation through double negation. standum esse is the impersonal gerundive of sto with the dative diuisioni, meaning 'that the division must be adhered to.' The phrase states that the division is no less binding despite the lack of a signature.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §26.8.20.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:26.8.20.pr

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