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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §29.4.3.pr

Actions by Legatees when Substitutes Pay or Also Waive

Passage 4517 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Pomponius discusses whether legatees can bring an action when an heir accepts money from a substitute to abandon the inheritance, and how liability is shared or restricted if both the heir and the substitute abandon the testament and possess the inheritance as intestate heirs.

[POMPONIUS libro tertio ad Sabinum. ] §29.4.3.prSi pecuniam a substituto acceperis, ut praetermitteres, isque adierit, an danda sit legatariis actio, dubitari potest.
[POMPONIUS, book three on Sabinus] If you have accepted money from a substitute heir in order to abandon [the inheritance], and he has entered upon [the inheritance], it may be doubted whether an action should be given to the legatees.
et puto, si ipse quoque praetermiserit et, quod lege ad se rediret, possidebit hereditatem, in utrumque uestrum dandam, ut ei tamen, cui ab utroque legatum sit, in alterutrum detur actio.
And I think that, if he himself has also abandoned it and, what would revert to him by law, possesses the inheritance, [the action] should be given against both of you; provided, however, that to one to whom a legacy was left by both, the action is given against either of the two.

Notes

  1. §29.4.3.prdandam — `dandam` (accusative feminine singular gerundive) belongs to an accusative-with-infinitve (ACI) construction governed by `puto`, with the subject `actionem` and the copula `esse` omitted, expressing necessity or obligation ('should be given').
  2. §29.4.3.pruestrum — Genitive (partitive) of the second-person plural pronoun `uos`, modifying the pronoun `utrumque` ('each of the two'). Here it refers to 'you' (the heir who accepted money) and 'him' (the substitute heir).
  3. §29.4.3.prrediret — Imperfect subjunctive in the relative clause `quod lege ad se rediret`. The subjunctive is used either because the clause is subordinate to the indirect speech (ACI) governed by `puto` (subjunctive by attraction/subordination), or to express a hypothetical or potential situation ('what would revert to him by operation of law').

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §29.4.3.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:29.4.3.pr

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