Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §29.2.51.pr-29.2.51.2

Doubtful Testaments and Conditional Entry by a Son

Passage 4454 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It presents criteria regarding the validity of entering upon an inheritance when there are two testaments, or when a son under patriarchal power enters upon it with his father's qualified authorization depending on the solvency of the estate.

[AFRICANUS libro quarto quaestionum. ] §29.2.51.prEum, qui duobus testamentis eiusdem testatoris heres scribitur, cum dubitet, num posterius falsum sit, ex neutro eorum posse adire hereditatem placet.
[AFRICANUS, in the fourth book of Questions.] It is held that a person who is designated as heir in two testaments of the same testator, when he doubts whether the later one is forged, cannot enter upon the inheritance under either of them.
§29.2.51.1Filius familias heres scriptus patrem suum certiorem fecerat uideri sibi soluendo esse hereditatem: pater rescripserat sibi parum idoneam renuntiari itaque debere cum diligentius explorare et ita adire, si idoneam comperisset: filius acceptis litteris patris adiit hereditatem: dubitatum est, an recte adisset.
A filius familias, designated as heir, had informed his father that it seemed to him that the inheritance was solvent. The father had written back that it was reported to him as not sufficiently reliable, and that therefore he (the son) ought to investigate it more diligently, and only enter upon it if he found it to be reliable. The son, having received his father's letter, entered upon the inheritance. It was doubted whether he had entered upon it rightly.
probabilius diceretur, quamdiu persuasum ei non sit soluendo esse hereditatem, patrem non obligasse.
It would be more plausibly said that, as long as he is not convinced that the inheritance is solvent, he has not bound his father.
§29.2.51.2Sed et si quis ita dixerit: 'si soluendo hereditas est, adeo hereditatem', nulla aditio est.
But also, if anyone should say: 'If the inheritance is solvent, I enter upon the inheritance,' there is no entry.

Notes

  1. 29.2.51.1soluendo — soluendo is the dative of the gerund (in the idiom soluendo esse, meaning "to be solvent" or "to be able to pay"). Literally "to be fit for paying," here it denotes that the inheritance is sufficient to cover its debts.
  2. 29.2.51.1cum — The word cum here is interpreted in this context as a scribal error or variant reading for eum ("him", i.e., the son), serving as the subject accusative of the infinitive explorare.
  3. 29.2.51.1probabilius diceretur — The imperfect subjunctive diceretur expresses a potential or counterfactual judgment. It is used impersonally, meaning "it would be more plausibly said."

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §29.2.51.pr-29.2.51.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:29.2.51.pr-29.2.51.2

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.