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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §29.2.70.pr-29.2.70.2

Priority Order Between Testamentary and Intestate Succession

Passage 4473 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

On the priority and procedural steps when testamentary and statutory inheritances overlap, ruling that testamentary inheritance must be addressed first, even under conditional terms, and detailing the possession of assets by creditors upon final repudiation.

[PAULUS libro quinquagesimo septimo ad edictum. ] §29.2.70.prIn plurium heredum gradibus hoc seruandum est, ut, si testamentum proferatur, prius a scriptis incipiatur, deinde transitus fiat ad eos ad quos legitima hereditas pertinet, etiamsi idem sit, ad quem utroque modo pertineat: nam hoc gradatim consequitur, ut prius ex testamento delatam, deinde legitimam repudiet.
[PAULUS, from the fifty-seventh book on the Edict.] In the degrees of multiple heirs, this must be observed: that if a will is produced, one must begin first with those written in it, and then a transition is to be made to those to whom the statutory inheritance belongs, even if it is the same person to whom it belongs in both ways. For this follows step by step: that he first repudiates the inheritance offered from the will, and then the statutory one.
idem iuris est in bonorum possessione, ut prius scriptus repellat bonorum possessionem, deinde is qui ab intestato petere potest.
The same rule of law applies to the possession of goods: namely, that the written heir first rejects the possession of goods, and then he who can petition on intestacy.
§29.2.70.1Si uero ei, ad quem legitima hereditas potest pertinere, condicio data sit, nihil constituere potest de legitima, antequam dies condicionis transeat, et ideo dicendum est et in eo casu.
But if a condition has been given to him to whom the statutory inheritance can belong, he can decide nothing concerning the statutory inheritance before the day of the condition passes, and therefore it must be so said also in that case.
§29.2.70.2Si respondit neutram hereditatem ad se uelle pertinere, bona defuncti a creditoribus possidenda sunt.
If he has answered that he wishes neither inheritance to belong to him, the goods of the deceased must be possessed by the creditors.

Notes

  1. §29.2.70.prhoc seruandum est, ut — The demonstrative pronoun "hoc" acts as an anticipatory object referring forward to the "ut" clause, which functions as a substantive clause of result or purpose defining the rule to be observed.
  2. §29.2.70.pra scriptis incipiatur — An impersonal passive construction using the present subjunctive "incipiatur" ("let it be begun"), with the ablative of agent "a scriptis" (referring to the "heredes scripti", i.e., those designated in the will).
  3. §29.2.70.prhoc gradatim consequitur, ut — The subject of the deponent verb "consequitur" ("follows" or "results") is the neuter pronoun "hoc". The "ut" clause functions as a consecutive (result) clause depending on it.
  4. §29.2.70.1nihil constituere potest — Here, "constituere" means to make a binding legal decision (such as acceptance or repudiation of the inheritance). While the condition is still pending, the person cannot make any decision regarding the statutory inheritance.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §29.2.70.pr-29.2.70.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:29.2.70.pr-29.2.70.2

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