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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §28.2.7.pr

Invalidity of a Will Passing over a Son Predeceasing the Father

Passage 4128 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

On the rule that if a son under power is passed over in a will and dies during his father's lifetime, the will is invalid and does not revoke any prior will.

[PAULUS libro primo ad Sabinum. ] §28.2.7.prSi filius qui in potestate est praeteritus sit et uiuo patre decedat, testamentum non ualet nec superius rumpetur, et eo iure utimur.
[PAULUS, Book 1 on Sabinus.] If a son who is under paternal power has been passed over and dies while his father is still living, the will is not valid, nor is an earlier will revoked; and this is the rule of law we follow.

Notes

  1. §28.2.7.prpraeteritus sit — Subjunctive perfect passive, third-person singular. In Roman law, a self-successor under paternal power (suus heres) had to be either appointed as heir or disinherited (exheredatio) by name; simply being passed over (praeteritus) affected the validity of the will. Here it refers to this state of being passed over.
  2. §28.2.7.pruiuo patre — Ablative absolute construction consisting of uiuo (ablative of the adjective uiuus, 'living') and patre (ablative of the noun pater, 'father'), meaning 'while the father is still living'.
  3. §28.2.7.prsuperius — Comparative neuter nominative singular form of the adjective superus, with testamentum ('will') understood from the context, referring to 'an earlier will' or 'a prior will'. Since the new will is invalid, it does not have the effect of revoking the previous one.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §28.2.7.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:28.2.7.pr

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