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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §29.2.88.pr

Mental Acceptance and Possession of Pledged or Alien Goods

Passage 4491 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Paulus explains that a person who mentally accepts an inheritance is deemed to act as heir even without touching any physical assets, and this applies even if they retain a pledged house or possess another's property under the belief that it is part of the inheritance.

[PAULUS libro primo quaestionum. ] §29.2.88.prGerit pro herede, qui animo adgnoscit successionem, licet nihil attingat hereditarium.
[PAULUS, from the first book of Questions.] He acts as heir who in his mind accepts the succession, even though he touches nothing belonging to the inheritance.
unde et si domum pignori datam sicut hereditariam retinuit, cuius possessio qualisqualis fuit in hereditate, pro herede gerere uidetur: idemque est et si alienam rem ut hereditariam possedisset.
Hence, even if he retained a house given in pledge as if it were part of the inheritance, the possession of which, of whatever sort it was, was in the inheritance, he is deemed to act as heir; and the same is true even if he had possessed another's property as if it were part of the inheritance.

Notes

  1. §29.2.88.prGerit pro herede, qui animo adgnoscit successionem — The verb "gerit" is placed at the very beginning of the sentence, with the clause introduced by the relative pronoun "qui" serving as its grammatical subject ("he who..."). This front-shifting of the verb highlights the action of acting as heir.
  2. §29.2.88.prlicet nihil attingat hereditarium — The conjunction "licet" ("although / even if") introduces a concessive clause with the subjunctive "attingat". "hereditarium" is a neuter singular adjective used substantively or modifying "nihil" to mean "nothing belonging to the inheritance."
  3. §29.2.88.prcuius possessio qualisqualis fuit in hereditate — The genitive relative pronoun "cuius" refers back to "domum". "qualisqualis" is an indefinite relative adjective meaning "of whatever sort/quality". It indicates that whatever the nature or condition of the possession held by the deceased was, it was nevertheless included in the inheritance.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §29.2.88.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:29.2.88.pr

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