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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §28.1.29.pr-28.1.29.1

Validity of Draft Wills and the Clause on Broad Effectiveness

Passage 4119 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Paulus states that if a draft of a will is not legally completed, any trusts contained within it cannot be claimed; however, a clause wishing the document to be valid "under all authority" indicates the testator's intent to validate the bequests even if they died intestate.

[PAULUS libro quarto decimo responsorum. ] §28.1.29.prEx ea scriptura, quae ad testamentum faciendum parabatur, si nullo iure testamentum perfectum esset, nec ea, quae fideicommissorum uerba habent peti posse.
[PAULUS in the fourteenth book of Opinions.] From a writing which was being prepared for the purpose of making a will, if the will was not completed by any legal right, even those things which contain the words of trusts cannot be claimed.
§28.1.29.1Ex his uerbis, quae scriptura pater familias addidit: ταύτην τὴν διαθήκην βούλομαι εἶναι κυρίαν ἐπὶ πάσης ἐξουσίας, uideri eum uoluisse omnimodo ualere ea quae reliquit, etiamsi intestatus decessisset.
From these words, which the father of the family added to the writing: "ταύτην τὴν διαθήκην βούλομαι εἶναι κυρίαν ἐπὶ πάσης ἐξουσίας", it appears that he wished those things which he left to be valid in every way, even if he had died intestate.

Notes

  1. §28.1.29.prpeti posse — Since this is a citation of an opinion (responsum), the main verb (such as respondit) is omitted, resulting in an accusative with infinitive (A.C.I.) construction. The subject is the neuter plural pronoun ea with the relative clause, meaning 'that those things which contain the words of trusts can be claimed.'
  2. §28.1.29.1uideri eum uoluisse — Like the previous section, this begins with the infinitive uideri ('it seems / is seen') in indirect speech. The pronoun eum is the subject accusative of the infinitive uoluisse, referring back to the pater familias. The infinitive uoluisse further governs the accusative with infinitive clause ea ualere ('that those things are valid').

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §28.1.29.pr-28.1.29.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:28.1.29.pr-28.1.29.1

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