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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §29.2.84.pr

Passed-Over Posthumous Child and Relief for Son

Passage 4487 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Discusses the timing of the deferral of inheritance under a testament where an unborn child was passed over, explaining the legal rights and the judicial relief by decree for a son retained in the family or an emancipated son who dies while the pregnancy is still uncertain.

[PAPINIANUS libro sexto decimo quaestionum. ] §29.2.84.prUentre praeterito si filius qui fuit emancipatus aut exter heres institutus sit, quamdiu rumpi testamentum potest, non defertur ex testamento hereditas.
[PAPINIANUS, from the sixteenth book of Questions.] If, where an unborn child has been passed over, a son who has been emancipated or an outsider is instituted as heir, as long as the testament can be revoked, the inheritance is not deferred under the testament.
sed si uacuo uentre mulier fuit et incerto eo filius in familia retentus uita decessit, heres fuisse intellegitur: emancipatus aut exter non aliter possunt hereditatem quaerere, quam si non esse praegnatem sciant.
But if the woman was not pregnant, and while this was uncertain, a son who was retained in the family died, he is understood to have been the heir; whereas an emancipated son or an outsider cannot acquire the inheritance otherwise than if they know that she is not pregnant.
ergo si uentre pleno sit mulier, nonne iniquum erit interea defunctum filium heredi suo relinquere nihil? et ideo decreto filio succurrendum est, quia, siue frater ei nascatur siue non nascatur, patri heres futurus est.
Therefore, if the woman is pregnant, will it not be unjust that the son who died in the meantime should leave nothing to his own heir? And for this reason, the son must be succoured by a decree, because, whether a brother is born to him or not, he is to be the heir to his father.
eademque ratio facit, ut emancipato quoque subueniri debeat, qui alterutro casu rem omnimodo habiturus est.
And the same reason makes it necessary that the emancipated son should also be subvened, who in either case is bound to have the property in any event.

Notes

  1. §29.2.84.prUentre praeterito — Ablative absolute. It refers to the status where an unborn child (uterus) is passed over (neither instituted nor disinherited) in a testament, which means the testament could be revoked (ruptum) upon the birth of the child.
  2. §29.2.84.prfilius in familia retentus — Refers to a 'son retained in the family' (filius familias) under paternal power, who automatically becomes an heir by operation of law without any formal acceptance. This is contrasted with the emancipated son (emancipatus) and the outsider (exter).
  3. §29.2.84.prnon aliter... quam si — A double negative construction, meaning 'not otherwise than if...' (i.e., 'only if...').
  4. §29.2.84.prdecreto — 'By decree'. It refers to the relief granted by the magistrate (such as the praetor) through an edict or decree (decretum), which provides remedies like bonorum possessio (possession of goods) under praetorian law to correct the strictness or inconveniences of civil law.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §29.2.84.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:29.2.84.pr

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