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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §29.3.10.pr-29.3.10.2

Opening Duplicate Wills and Relief for Lost Tablets

Passage 4512 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Ulpianus discusses the conditions for opening a will when duplicate copies exist, the validity of a will when it opens naturally, and the necessity of granting relief to legatees if the will is missing, burnt, or suppressed.

[ULPIANUS libro tertio decimo ad legem Iuliam et Papiam. ] §29.3.10.prSi in duobus exemplariis scriptum sit testamentum, alterutro patefacto apertae tabulae sunt.
[ULPIANUS, book thirteen on the Lex Julia et Papia] If a will has been written in two copies, upon either of them being opened, the tablets are considered to have been opened.
§29.3.10.1Si sui natura tabulae patefactae sunt, apertum uideri testamentum non dubitatur: non enim quaeremus, a quo aperiantur.
If the tablets have opened by their own nature, there is no doubt that the will is deemed to have been opened; for we do not inquire by whom they are opened.
§29.3.10.2Si tabulae non compareant uel exustae sint, futurum est, ut subuenire legatariis debeat.
If the tablets do not appear or have been burnt up, it will be the case that relief ought to be given to the legatees.
idem est, si subpressae uel occultae sint.
The same is true if they have been suppressed or hidden.

Notes

  1. §29.3.10.pralterutro patefacto — An ablative absolute construction consisting of the ablative neuter singular of the pronominal adjective alteruter (either of the two) and the perfect passive participle of patefacio in the ablative. It means "upon either of the two having been opened."
  2. §29.3.10.1sui natura — The genitive of the reflexive pronoun sui modifying the ablative of means natura. It means "by its own nature", referring to a situation where the tablets opened "naturally" due to physical factors or decay, rather than being intentionally opened by a human.
  3. §29.3.10.2futurum est, ut subuenire legatariis debeat — The construction futurum est, ut followed by the subjunctive indicates a future event ("it will be the case that..."). The phrase subuenire debeat containing the intransitive verb subuenire (which governs the dative legatariis) is used impersonally, meaning "relief ought to be granted to the legatees."

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §29.3.10.pr-29.3.10.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:29.3.10.pr-29.3.10.2

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