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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §28.3.12.pr-28.3.12.1

Remedy for Ruptured Wills and Prior Wills as Trusts

Passage 4167 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section discusses the Praetorian remedy for a testament that would otherwise be revoked when a passed-over posthumous child is born and dies during the testator's lifetime. It also explains how an earlier testament can be validated as a trust (fideicommissum) through a subsequent testament.

[IDEM libro quarto disputationum. ] §28.3.12.prPostumus praeteritus uiuo testatore natus decessit: licet iuris scrupulositate nimiaque suptilitate testamentum ruptum uideatur, attamen, si signatum fuerit testamentum, bonorum possessionem secundum tabulas accipere heres scriptus potest remque optinebit, ut et diuus Hadrianus et imperator noster rescripserunt, idcircoque legatarii et fideicommissarii habebunt ea, quae sibi relicta sint, securi.
[THE SAME, in the fourth book of Disputes.] A posthumous child who was passed over in the testament was born and died during the lifetime of the testator. Although by a strict adherence to the law and excessive subtlety the testament may seem to be revoked, nevertheless, if the testament has been sealed, the appointed heir can accept the possession of goods in accordance with the tablets and will obtain the property, as both the Divine Hadrian and our Emperor have stated in rescripts; and therefore the legatees and trust-beneficiaries will hold in security what has been left to them.
idem et circa iniustum et irritum testamentum erit dicendum, si bonorum possessio data fuerit ei, qui rem ab intestato auferre possit.
The same must also be said concerning an unlawful or ineffectual testament, if the possession of goods has been given to one who could carry off the property on intestacy.
§28.3.12.1Si paganus, qui habebat iam factum testamentum, aliud fecisset et in eo comprehendisset fidei heredis committere, ut priores tabulae ualerent, omnimodo prius testamentum ruptum est: quo rupto potest quaeri, an uice codicillorum id ualere deberet.
If a civilian, who already had a testament made, had made another, and had included in it a trust committed to the faith of the heir that the earlier tablets should be valid, the earlier testament is in every way revoked. Upon its revocation, it can be asked whether it ought to be valid in the place of codicils.
et cum haec uerba sint fideicommissi, et sine dubio uniuersa, quae illic scripta sunt, in causa fideicommissi erunt, non solum legata et fideicommissa, sed et libertates et heredis institutio.
And since these words are of a trust, undoubtedly everything written there will be in the position of a trust—not only legacies and trusts, but also grants of freedom and the institution of an heir.

Notes

  1. §28.3.12.pruiuo testatore — Ablative absolute consisting of the noun testatore and the adjective uiuo, expressing time: "while the testator was still alive."
  2. §28.3.12.prqui rem ab intestato auferre possit — A relative clause where the antecedent is ei. The verb auferre means "to carry off" or "to acquire (the inheritance)," referring to someone who is legally entitled to secure the property by intestacy (ab intestato).
  3. §28.3.12.1quo rupto — Ablative absolute with a relative connection (connecting relative quo), where the antecedent is prius testamentum: "which [testament] having been revoked" or "after it was revoked."
  4. §28.3.12.1uice codicillorum — Ablative of the noun uicis used prepositionally with the genitive codicillorum, meaning "in the place of" or "as" codicils.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §28.3.12.pr-28.3.12.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:28.3.12.pr-28.3.12.1

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