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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §27.3.18.pr

Equitable Actions for Wards and Creditors on Inheritance Exclusion

Passage 4012 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This text discusses the division of an equitable action (utilis actio) between a ward and his father's creditors when the guardian excludes the ward from the inheritance, as well as the timing of the availability of these respective actions.

[PAPINIANUS libro uicesimo quinto quaestionum. ] §27.3.18.prCum tutor negotiis impuberis administratis pupillum paterna hereditate abstinet, bonis patris uenditis tractari solet, utilis actio pupillo relinqui an creditoribus concedi debeat.
[PAPINIAN, Questions, Book 25] When a guardian, after the affairs of a minor have been administered, excludes the ward from his father's inheritance, it is customary to consider, when the father's property has been sold, whether an equitable action should be left to the ward or granted to the creditors.
et probatur actionem inter pupillum et creditores patris esse diuidendam, scilicet ut quod rationi bonorum per tutorem deerit creditoribus reddatur, quod autem dolo uel culpa tutoris in officio pupilli perperam abstenti contractum est, puero relinquatur.
And it is approved that the action should be divided between the ward and the creditors of the father, namely, that what is lacking to the account of the estate through the guardian should be returned to the creditors, whereas what has been contracted through the fraud or fault of the guardian in his office regarding the ward who was wrongfully excluded should be left to the boy.
quae actio sine dubio non prius competet, quam pupillus ad pubertatem peruenerit: sed illa confestim creditoribus datur.
This action, without doubt, will not be available before the ward reaches the age of puberty; but that other one is immediately given to the creditors.

Notes

  1. §27.3.18.prnegotiis impuberis administratis — Ablative absolute. The perfect tense indicates that the administration of the minor's affairs has been completed prior to the action of the main verb `abstinet`.
  2. §27.3.18.prutilis actio pupillo relinqui an creditoribus concedi debeat — An indirect question clause introduced by the conjunction `an` (whether... or), functioning as the subject of the impersonal passive verb phrase `tractari solet`.
  3. §27.3.18.prquae actio — Contains the connecting relative pronoun `quae`, referring back to the action left to the boy (`puero relinquatur`) mentioned immediately before. It stands in contrast with `illa` in the next clause.
  4. §27.3.18.prilla — Demonstrative pronoun (feminine singular nominative) referring to the more remote subject, i.e., the action to be granted to the creditors (`creditoribus reddatur`), as opposed to the more immediate `quae actio`.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §27.3.18.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:27.3.18.pr

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