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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §28.6.32.pr

Calculation of Shares with an Added Substitute Heir

Passage 4304 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

In a case where a testator added a new outsider as a co-heir to the substituted heirs in the event of one heir's refusal, the jurist explains how to calculate the respective shares of the added and original heirs.

[IDEM libro primo ad Urseium Ferocem. ] §28.6.32.prQui complures heredes ex disparibus partibus instituerat et in his Attium, si Attius non adierit, ceteros ex isdem partibus quibus instituerat heredes ei substituerat: deinde, si Attius non adisset, Titium coheredem eis qui substituti sunt adiecit.
[THE SAME, from the First Book on Urseius Ferox.] A person who had appointed several heirs with unequal shares, including Attius among them, had substituted the others for him as heirs in the same shares in which he had appointed them, in the event that Attius should not enter upon the inheritance. Then, he added Titius as a co-heir to those who had been substituted, in the event that Attius should not enter.
quaesitum est, quam partem is et quam ceteri habituri essent.
The question arose as to what share Titius and what share the others would have.
respondi Titium uirilem, ceteros hereditarias: ueluti si tres fuissent, Titium partem quartam Attianae partis habiturum, reliquarum partium hereditarias partes, ex quibus instituti erant, reliquos habituros esse.
I replied that Titius would have a portion equal to a head-count (a virile share), and the others would have their hereditary shares; for example, if there had been three of them, Titius would have a fourth share of Attius's portion, and the remaining ones would have, of the rest, their hereditary shares in proportion to which they had been appointed.
quod si non solum Titium, sed etiam alios adiecisset heredes, hos quidem uiriles partes habituros: ueluti si tres puta coheredes fuissent substituti, extranei duo adiecti, hos quintas partes Attianae partis, reliquos autem coheredes hereditarias partes habituros esse dixit.
But if he had added not only Titius but also other heirs, these indeed would have virile shares; for example, if, suppose, three co-heirs had been substituted, and two outsiders added, he said that these would have fifth shares of Attius's portion, while the remaining co-heirs would have their hereditary shares.

Notes

  1. 28.6.32.prex isdem partibus quibus instituerat — The preposition `ex` and the accusative pronoun `eos` (referring to `ceteros`) are omitted in the relative clause `quibus instituerat`, meaning `ex isdem partibus ex quibus eos instituerat` (from the same shares in which he had appointed them). This indicates that the shares in the substitution correspond to the initial shares.
  2. 28.6.32.prTitium uirilem, ceteros hereditarias — An elliptical construction to be understood as `Titium [partem] uirilem [habiturum esse], ceteros [partes] hereditarias [habituros esse]`. The term `pars uirilis` (a virile share) denotes a portion equal to a head-count for the added heir, while `pars hereditaria` (hereditary share) refers to the original unequal shares appointed in the first place.
  3. 28.6.32.prreliquarum partium — A genitive of the whole (partitive genitive), modifying `hereditarias partes`. It refers to "the remaining parts" (i.e., the remaining three-quarters) of Attius's share after deducting Titius's one-fourth portion.
  4. 28.6.32.prdixit — There is a shift in person from `respondi` (I replied) at the beginning to `dixit` (he said) at the end. This is likely because Julian is wrapping up his response in an objective reporting style, or because he is formulating the conclusion in the third person in accordance with the original text of Urseius Ferox.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §28.6.32.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:28.6.32.pr

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