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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §29.5.4.pr

Transmissibility of Inheritance to Heirs of a Substitute

Passage 4550 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Papinianus delivers an opinion on a case where a substitute heir (the wife) died before entering upon the inheritance of a murdered testator; he rules that her heirs' claim to beneficial actions is admissible only if she was not pregnant and had refrained from entering upon the inheritance solely out of fear of the senate decree.

[PAPINIANUS libro sexto responsorum. ] §29.5.4.prQui postumos heredes instituerat, non natis postumis uxorem secundo loco scripsit heredem: cum a familia necatus diceretur, uxor diem suum obierat: heredes mulieris actiones ex constitutione sibi dari postulabant.
[PAPINIANUS, Book 6 of Opinions] A man who had instituted posthumous children as his heirs wrote his wife as heir in the second place, in the event that the posthumous children were not born. When he was said to have been killed by his household, the wife had met her end (died). The heirs of the woman demanded that the actions be granted to them in accordance with the constitution.
eos ita demum audiendos esse respondi, si mulier, quam in utero nihil gestare constabat, propter senatus consultum hereditatem adire noluit: alioquin praegnate ea defuncta nullam iniuriae querellam interuenisse.
I replied that they should only be heard if the woman, who, it was established, was carrying nothing in her womb, had refused to enter upon the inheritance on account of the senate decree; otherwise, if she had died pregnant, no complaint of injury intervened.

Notes

  1. §29.5.4.prnon natis postumis — An ablative absolute consisting of the noun "postumus" (posthumous child) and "natis", the perfect participle of "nascor" (to be born). It functions here to express a condition: "in the event that the posthumous children were not born."
  2. §29.5.4.prita demum ... si — A correlative expression indicating a strict limitation: "only then... if..." or "only under the condition that..."
  3. §29.5.4.pralioquin praegnate ea defuncta nullam iniuriae querellam interuenisse — An accusative and infinitive clause (with "querellam" as the subject accusative and "interuenisse" as the infinitive) dependent on "respondi". "Alioquin" (otherwise) refers to the opposite of the previous condition—i.e., if she had been pregnant. If she had been pregnant, she would have been unable to enter upon the inheritance anyway until the birth of the posthumous child was settled. Thus, there was no "iniuria" (injury/injustice) caused by the senate decree preventing her entry, and consequently, no "querella" (complaint/remedy) can intervene.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §29.5.4.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:29.5.4.pr

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