[POMPONIUS libro primo ad Sabinum. ] §28.5.23.prSi quis instituatur heres in diem certum uel incertum, is bonorum possessionem agnoscere potest et tamquam heres distrahere hereditatem.
[POMPONIUS libro primo ad Sabinum.] If anyone is instituted heir to a certain or uncertain day, he can apply for the possession of the property and, as if he were the heir, sell the inheritance.
§28.5.23.1Sed si bonorum possessionem non admittat, sed condicionem trahat, cui facile parere possit, ueluti 'si seruum quem in potestate habeat manumiserit' nec manumittat, hic praetoris erunt partes, ut imitetur edictum suum illud, quo praefinit tempus, intra quod adeatur hereditas.
But if he does not admit the possession of the property, but drags out a condition which he could easily fulfill, such as 'if he manumits a slave whom he has in his power' and yet does not manumit him, here it will be the part of the praetor to imitate that edict of his, by which he prescribes a time within which the inheritance must be entered.
§28.5.23.2Item si condicioni heres parere non poterit, quam in sua potestate non habebit, ueluti institutione collata in alterius factum aut quendam casum, 'si ille' puta 'consul factus fuerit', tunc postulantibus creditoribus constituet praetor, nisi intra certum tempus hereditas optigerit aditaque fuerit, se bona defuncti creditoribus possidere iussurum et interim quae urguebunt per procuratores distrahi iussurum.
Likewise, if the heir cannot fulfill a condition which he does not have in his power, such as when the institution is dependent on another's act or some chance event, for instance, 'if that person is made consul', then upon the request of the creditors, the praetor will decide that, unless within a certain time the inheritance falls open and is entered upon, he will order the creditors to take possession of the deceased's property, and in the meantime will order those matters which are urgent to be sold through managers.
§28.5.23.3Sed si sub condicione quis heres institutus sit et graue aes alienum sit, quod ex poena crescit, et maxime si publicum debitum imminet: per procuratorem soluendum aes alienum, sicuti cum uenter in possessione sit aut pupillus heres tutorem non habeat.
But if anyone has been instituted heir under a condition and there is heavy debt which increases from a penalty, and especially if a public debt is imminent, the debt must be paid through a manager, just as when an unborn child is in possession or a ward who is heir has no tutor.
§28.5.23.4Et ideo ait causae cognitionem adiectam propter eos, qui sine dilatione peregre essent uel aegritudine uel ualitudine ita impedirentur, ut in ius produci non possint, nec tamen defenderentur.
And therefore, it says that the inquiry into the case was added for the sake of those who without delay were abroad, or were so hindered by illness or ill health that they could not be brought into court, and yet were not defended.