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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §28.6.46.pr

Duty of Pupillary Substitute to Fulfill Fideicommissum

Passage 4318 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

A paterfamilias substituted his brother as heir for himself or his son under puberty and left a fideicommissum conditioned on the brother becoming his heir; when the son died under puberty and the brother succeeded, Paulus answers that the brother is obliged to fulfill the fideicommissum, as he is indeed considered the heir of the testator.

[IDEM libro tertio decimo responsorum. ] §28.6.46.prPater familias primis tabulis postumo herede instituto secundis sibi uel filio, si intra pubertatem decessisset, Gaium Seium fratrem suum substituit, deinde Titium Gaio Seio, et postea sic dixit: 'quod si Gaius Seius frater meus primo loco substitutus heres mihi esset, tunc Titio fideicommissum relinquo'. quaero, cum filius patri heres exstiterit eoque intra pubertatem mortuo frater testatoris ex substitutione heres sit, an fideicommissum debeatur, cum ita relictum sit, si Gaius Seius frater suus sibi heres extitisset. respondi fratrem defuncti, qui in utrumque casum institutus uel substitutus est, filio impubere defuncto ea quae testator reliquit praestare debere: nec aduersari haec uerba 'quod si Gaius Seius mihi heres erit, tunc dari uolo', cum uerum sit eum et testatori heredem exstitisse.
[The same, from his thirteenth book of Opinions.] A paterfamilias, having instituted a posthumous child as heir in the first tablets of his will, substituted in the second tablets his brother Gaius Seius for himself, or for his son if he should die within the age of puberty, and then substituted Titius for Gaius Seius, and afterwards spoke as follows: "But if my brother Gaius Seius, substituted in the first place, should be my heir, then I leave a fideicommissum to Titius." I ask, when the son has become heir to his father and, upon his death within the age of puberty, the brother of the testator is heir by virtue of the substitution, whether the fideicommissum is due, since it was left on the condition "if his brother Gaius Seius should have become his heir." I replied that the brother of the deceased, who was instituted or substituted for both cases, is obliged, upon the death of the pupil son, to pay what the testator left; and that these words, "but if Gaius Seius shall be my heir, then I wish it to be given," do not stand in the way, since it is true that he has also become heir to the testator.

Notes

  1. §28.6.46.prin utrumque casum — Meaning 'for both cases.' Here, 'both' refers to the two situations of substitution: ordinary substitution (uulgaris substitutio), which occurs if there is no immediate heir at the testator's death, and pupillary substitution (pupillaris substitutio), which occurs if the instituted son dies before reaching the age of puberty.
  2. §28.6.46.preum et testatori heredem exstitisse — An accusative and infinitive construction serving as the subject clause of 'uerum sit' after 'cum'. The word 'et' qualifies 'testatori', meaning 'also to the testator.' In Roman law, a pupillary substitute (pupillaris substitutus) designated for a minor child is, upon the child's death under puberty, deemed to have become the heir of the testator (the father) as well. Therefore, the condition 'if he should be my heir' is considered fulfilled through the pupillary substitution.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §28.6.46.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:28.6.46.pr

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