Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §28.6.20.pr-28.6.20.1

Unity of Wills of Father and Son and Requirements of Form

Passage 4292 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The text discusses the unity of the wills of a father and a son under praetorian law, stating that the father's seals alone can suffice, and affirms the validity of a will combining written and oral formats for each party.

[ULPIANUS libro sexto decimo ad Sabinum. ] §28.6.20.prPatris et filii testamentum pro uno habetur etiam in iure praetorio: nam, ut Marcellus libro digestorum nono scribit, sufficit tabulas esse patris signatas, etsi resignatae sint filii, et septem signa patris sufficiunt.
[ULPIAN, Book 16 on Sabinus.] The will of a father and a son is regarded as one even in praetorian law; for, as Marcellus writes in the ninth book of his Digests, it is sufficient that the tablets of the father are sealed, even if those of the son have been unsealed, and the seven seals of the father are sufficient.
§28.6.20.1Si pater sibi per scripturam, filio per nuncupationem uel contra fecerit testamentum, ualebit.
If a father makes a will for himself in writing, and for his son by oral declaration, or vice versa, it will be valid.

Notes

  1. 28.6.20.prpro uno habetur — The construction habere + pro + ablative means 'to be regarded as/considered as'. Here it means that the will of the father and that of the son (by pupillary substitution) are treated as a single instrument.
  2. 28.6.20.prtabulas esse patris signatas — An accusative with infinitive clause (tabulas esse signatas) acting as the subject of the impersonal verb sufficit. Patris is a genitive modifying tabulas: 'it is sufficient that the tablets of the father are sealed'.
  3. 28.6.20.1vel contra — Meaning 'or vice versa', referring to the opposite of the preceding clause ('for himself in writing, and for his son by oral declaration'), i.e., 'for himself by oral declaration, and for his son in writing'.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §28.6.20.pr-28.6.20.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:28.6.20.pr-28.6.20.1

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.