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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §29.2.8.pr-29.2.8.1

Inheritance Acceptance by Minor Wards and Those under Power

Passage 4411 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Ulpian discusses that while a ward cannot be bound without a tutor's authority, an inheritance imposes debt even if insolvent, and that a minor under power acquires an inheritance for his master if he enters by command.

[ULPIANUS libro septimo ad Sabinum. ] §29.2.8.prMore nostrae ciuitatis neque pupillus neque pupilla sine tutoris auctoritate obligari possunt: hereditas autem quin obliget nos aeri alieno, etiam si non sit soluendo, plus quam manifestum est.
[ULPIAN in the seventh book on Sabinus.] According to the custom of our state, neither a male ward nor a female ward can be bound by an obligation without the authority of their tutor; but that an inheritance binds us to debt, even if it is insolvent, is more than manifest.
de ea autem hereditate loquimur, in qua non succedunt huiusmodi personae quasi necessariae.
However, we are speaking of that inheritance in which persons of this kind do not succeed as if they were necessary heirs.
§29.2.8.1Impubes qui in alterius potestate est si iussu eius adierit hereditatem, licet consilii capax non fuerit, ei adquirit hereditatem.
If a minor who is under the power of another enters upon an inheritance by his command, even though he was not capable of understanding, he acquires the inheritance for him.

Notes

  1. §29.2.8.prsoluendo — soluendo is the dative of the gerundive, forming the idiomatic expression esse soluendo (to be solvent / capable of paying). Here, with the impersonal sit, it means 'even if [the inheritance] is insolvent.'
  2. §29.2.8.prquin obliget — quin introduces a subjunctive clause (obliget) after expressions of doubt or denial (here the intensive plus quam manifestum est, 'it is more than manifest'), functioning to express a strong affirmation ('that an inheritance binds ... is more than manifest').
  3. §29.2.8.1ei — The dative demonstrative pronoun ei refers to alterius (the other, i.e., the person holding power over the minor) in the relative clause in alterius potestate. It is a dative of benefit, indicating that the minor acquires the inheritance for that master/father.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §29.2.8.pr-29.2.8.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:29.2.8.pr-29.2.8.1

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