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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §28.6.12.pr

Rejection of Father's Estate and Pupillary Substitution

Passage 4284 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The text discusses the case where a son, instituted as heir to both his father and his brother under pupillary substitution, is allowed to reject the father's inheritance while retaining the brother's, and the basis for calculating the Falcidian portion in such a case.

[PAPINIANUS libro tertio quaestionum. ] §28.6.12.prSi filius, qui patri ac postea fratri ex secundis tabulis heres exstitit, hereditatem patris recuset, fraternam autem retinere malit, audiri debet: iustius enim praetorem facturum existimo, si fratri separationem bonorum patris concesserit.
[PAPINIANUS, Book 3 of Questions.]\n\nIf a son, who has stood as heir to his father and subsequently to his brother on the basis of the secondary tablets, rejects the inheritance of the father but prefers to retain that of his brother, he ought to be heard; for I think that the praetor will act more justly if he grants the brother the separation of the father's goods.
etenim ius dicenti propositum est liberos oneribus hereditariis non sponte susceptis liberare, non inuitos ab hereditate remouere, praesertim quod remotis tabulis secundis legitimam haberet fratris hereditatem.
For indeed, the purpose of the administrator of justice is to free children from hereditary burdens that they did not assume voluntarily, not to remove them from an inheritance against their will, especially since, even if the secondary tablets were set aside, he would have the statutory inheritance of his brother.
itaque legata dumtaxat ex secundis tabulis praestari debent habita ratione facultatium in Falcidia non patris, ut alias solet, sed impuberis.
Therefore, only the legacies under the secondary tablets ought to be paid, after taking into account, for the purpose of the Falcidian law, the assets not of the father, as is otherwise customary, but of the impubes.

Notes

  1. §28.6.12.prpraetorem facturum — Accusative with infinitive construction acting as the object of the main verb 'existimo'. The infinitive 'esse' is omitted, and combined with the comparative adverb 'iustius', it means 'that the praetor would act more justly'.
  2. §28.6.12.prius dicenti — Dative of the present participle 'ius dicens' (the one who pronounces the law), functioning as the dative object of the impersonal construction 'propositum est' (it is purposed). Contextually, it refers to the administrator of justice or the praetor.
  3. §28.6.12.prhabita ratione — Ablative absolute construction using the noun 'ratio' and the perfect passive participle of 'habere'. It is an idiomatic expression meaning 'taking into account', where the genitive 'facultatium' indicates the object of consideration, further qualified by 'non patris... sed impuberis'.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §28.6.12.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:28.6.12.pr

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