[ULPIANUS libro sexto ad Sabinum. ] §28.6.2.prMoribus introductum est, ut quis liberis impuberibus testamentum facere possit, donec masculi ad quattuordecim annos perueniant, feminae ad duodecim.
[ULPIANUS in the sixth book on Sabinus.] It was introduced by custom that anyone can make a will for their child under puberty, until males reach fourteen years and females twelve.
quod sic erit accipiendum, si sint in potestate: ceterum emancipatis non possumus.
This is to be understood in this way, if they are under power; but we cannot do so for emancipated children.
postumis plane possumus.
Clearly, we can for posthumous children.
nepotibus etiam possumus et deinceps, si qui non recasuri sunt in patris potestate.
We can also for grandchildren and so on, if they are not going to fall back under the power of their father.
sed si eos patres praecedant, ita demum substitui eis potest, si heredes instituti sint uel exheredati: ita enim post legem Uelleam succedendo non rumpunt testamentum: nam si principale ruptum sit testamentum, et pupillare euanuit.
But if their fathers precede them, they can only have a substitute appointed for them if they have been instituted as heirs or disinherited; for in this way, by succeeding after the Lex Velleia, they do not break the will; for if the principal will is broken, the pupillary will also vanishes.
sed si extraneum quis impuberem heredem scripserit, poterit ei substituere, si modo eum in locum nepotis adoptauerit uel adrogauerit filio praecedente.
But if anyone has written an outsider under puberty as heir, he can substitute for him, provided that, with a son preceding, he has adopted or arrogated him into the place of a grandchild.
§28.6.2.1Quisquis autem impuberi testamentum facit, sibi quoque debet facere: ceterum soli filio non poterit, nisi forte miles sit.
But whoever makes a will for a child under puberty must also make one for himself; otherwise, he cannot do so for the son alone, unless by chance he is a soldier.
adeo autem, nisi sibi quoque fecerit, non ualet, ut, nisi adita quoque patris hereditas sit, pupillare testamentum euanescat.
Moreover, unless he makes it for himself as well, it is so far from being valid that, unless the father's inheritance is also entered upon, the pupillary will vanishes.
plane si omissa causa principalis testamenti ab intestato possideatur hereditas, dicendum est et pupillo substitutum seruandum:
Clearly, if the cause of the principal will is abandoned and the inheritance is possessed as on intestacy, it must be said that the substitution for the pupill must be preserved.
§28.6.2.2Interdum etiam pupillaris testamenti causa compellendum heredem institutum adire hereditatem, ut ex secundis tabulis fideicommissum conualescat: ut puta si iam pupillus decessit: ceterum si adhuc uiuat, improbum esse Iulianus existimat eum, qui sollicitus est de uiui hereditate.
Sometimes, also for the sake of the pupillary will, the instituted heir must be compelled to enter upon the inheritance, so that the trust from the second tablets may gain strength; as, for example, if the pupill has already died; but if he is still alive, Julian thinks that he who is anxious about the inheritance of a living person is shameless.
§28.6.2.3Ego etiam, si minor uiginti quinque annis adeundae hereditatis causa fuerit restitutus, puto proficere secundis tabulis, ut praetor utiles actiones decernat substituto.
I also think that if a person under twenty-five years of age has been restored for the purpose of entering upon the inheritance, it benefits the second tablets, so that the praetor may decree equitable actions for the substitute.
§28.6.2.4Prius autem sibi quis debet heredem scribere, deinde filio substituere et non conuertere ordinem scripturae: et hoc Iulianus putat prius sibi debere, deinde filio heredem scribere: ceterum si ante filio, deinde sibi testamentum faciat, non ualere.
But one must first write an heir for oneself, then substitute for the son, and not reverse the order of writing; and Julian thinks that one must first write an heir for oneself, then for the son; but if he makes a will first for the son, then for himself, it is not valid.
quae sententia rescripto imperatoris nostri ad Uirium Lupum Brittanniae praesidem comprobata est, et merito: constat enim unum esse testamentum, licet duae sint hereditates, usque adeo, ut quos quis sibi facit necessarios, eosdem etiam filio faciat et postumum suum filio impuberi possit quis substituere.
This opinion has been approved by a rescript of our Emperor to Virius Lupus, the governor of Britain, and rightly so; for it is established that there is only one will, although there are two inheritances, to such an extent that those whom one makes necessary heirs for oneself, he also makes the same for the son, and one can substitute his own posthumous child to a son under puberty.
§28.6.2.5Sed si quis ita fuerit testatus: 'si filius meus intra quartum decimum annum decesserit, Seius heres esto', deinde: 'filius heres esto', ualet substitutio, licet conuersa scriptura filii testamentum fecerit.
But if anyone has made his will thus: 'If my son dies within his fourteenth year, let Seius be my heir', and then: 'Let my son be my heir', the substitution is valid, although he has made the will for the son with the writing reversed.
§28.6.2.6Sed et si ita scripserit: 'si filius mihi heres non erit, Seius heres esto: filius heres esto', secundo quidem gradu Seius scriptus est heres et, si filius heres non exstiterit, procul dubio Seius ei heres erit: sed et si exstiterit filius heres et intra pubertatem defunctus est, Seius admittendus recte uidetur, ut non ordo scripturae, sed ordo successionis spectetur.
But even if he has written thus: 'If my son will not be my heir, let Seius be my heir: let my son be my heir', Seius is indeed written as heir in the second degree, and if the son does not emerge as heir, Seius will without doubt be his heir; but even if the son emerges as heir and dies before puberty, Seius seems rightly to be admitted, so that not the order of writing, but the order of succession is regarded.
§28.6.2.7Quod igitur dictum est singulis liberorum substituere licere, ideo adiectum est, ut declaretur non esse a filii testamento incipiendum impuberis.
Therefore, what was said, that it is permitted to substitute for each of one's children, was added for this reason, to make it clear that one must not begin from the will of the child under puberty.