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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §29.7.1.pr

Invalidity of an Ineffective Will as a Codicil

Passage 4577 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It is established that if a person intended to make a will but did not wish it to be valid as a codicil, they are deemed not to have made a codicil, rendering the contents of that will invalid.

[ULPIANUS libro quarto disputationum. ] §29.7.1.prSaepissime rescriptum et constitutum est eum, qui testamentum facere opinatus est nec uoluit quasi codicillos id ualere, uideri nec codicillos fecisse: ideoque quod in illo testamento scriptum est, licet quasi in codicillis poterit ualere, tamen non debetur.
[ULPIANUS in his fourth book of Disputations.] It has been very often replied by rescript and established that a person who intended to make a will and did not wish it to be valid as a codicil is deemed not even to have made a codicil; and therefore, what was written in that will, although it could be valid as if in a codicil, is nevertheless not due.

Notes

  1. §29.7.1.pruideri nec codicillos fecisse — The infinitive uideri, with its accusative subject eum, forms an AcI clause functioning as the subject of the impersonal passive construction rescriptum et constitutum est in the main clause. The negative nec has the force of 'not even' (ne...quidem), meaning 'is deemed not even to have made a codicil'.
  2. §29.7.1.prlicet quasi in codicillis poterit ualere — The word licet functions as a concessive conjunction (or an adverbialized impersonal verb), introducing a concessive clause with the indicative future poterit ('although it could be valid'). The word quasi introduces a hypothetical comparison ('as if in a codicil').

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §29.7.1.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:29.7.1.pr

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