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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §29.2.78.pr

Use of Common Property and Acceptance of Inheritance

Passage 4481 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The passage discusses whether a surviving brother, who shared property with his deceased brother, is deemed to have accepted the inheritance by using the common property, and cautions against exceeding his share.

[IDEM libro trigesimo quinto ad Quintum Mucium. ]
[THE SAME, from the thirty-fifth book On Quintus Mucius.] had been two brothers, and they had held property in common.
§29.2.78.prDuo fratres fuerant, bona communia habuerant: eorum alter intestato mortuus suum heredem non reliquerat: frater qui supererat nolebat ei heres esse: consulebat, num ob eam rem, quod communibus, cum sciret eum mortuum esse, usus esset, hereditati se alligasset.
One of them died intestate, leaving no self-successor. The surviving brother did not want to be his heir; he asked for advice whether, by the fact that he had used the common property when he knew that his brother was dead, he had bound himself to the inheritance.
respondit, nisi eo consilio usus esset, quod uellet se heredem esse, non adstringi.
He answered that unless he had used it with the intention of wishing to be the heir, he was not bound.
itaque cauere debet, ne qua in re plus sua parte dominationem interponeret.
Therefore, he ought to be careful not to assert ownership in any matter beyond his own share.

Notes

  1. 29.2.78.prcommunibus — Ablative neuter plural of the adjective communis, with the noun bonis understood, meaning "common property." It is in the ablative because it is governed by the verb utor (here usus esset), which takes an ablative object.
  2. 29.2.78.prnon adstringi — Present infinitive in the apodosis of the indirect speech depending on the main verb respondit. The accusative subject (the pronoun se referring to the surviving brother) is omitted.
  3. 29.2.78.prne qua — After the conjunction ne, the indefinite pronoun aliqua drops the prefix ali- to become qua, modifying re. It introduces a negative clause of purpose or caution ("lest in any matter...").

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §29.2.78.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:29.2.78.pr

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