[POMPONIUS libro quinto ad Sabinum. ] §30.1.24.prQuod in rerum natura adhuc non sit, legari posse, ueluti 'quidquid illa ancilla peperisset', constitit: uel ita ex uino quod in 'fundo meo natum est' uel 'fetus tantum dato'. §30.1.24.1Si usum fructum habeam eumque legauerim, nisi postea proprietatem eius nactus sim, inutile legatum est.
[POMPONIUS, Book 5 of Commentary on Sabinus.] It is established that what does not yet exist in the nature of things can be bequeathed, as for example, "whatever that female slave shall have brought forth," or likewise from wine, "what has been produced on my land," or "let only the offspring be given." If I have a usufruct and have bequeathed it, unless I subsequently acquire the ownership of it, the bequest is invalid.
§30.1.24.2Si quis post testamentum factum fundo Titiano legato partem aliquam adiecerit, quam fundi Titiani destinaret, id quod adiectum est exigi a legatario potest (et similis est causa alluuionis) et maxime si ex alio agro, qui fuit eius cum testamentum faceret, eam partem adiecit.
If anyone, after making a will, has added some part to the bequeathed Titian estate, which part he intended to be of the Titian estate, that which was added can be claimed by the legatee (and the case of alluvion is similar), and especially if he added that part from another field which was his when he made the will.
§30.1.24.3Quod si post testamentum factum ex fundo Titiano aliquid detraxit et alii fundo adiecit, uidendum est, utrumne eam quoque partem legatarius petiturus sit an hoc minus, quasi fundi Titiani esse desierit, cum nostra destinatione fundorum nomina et domus, non natura constituerentur.
But if, after making a will, he took away something from the Titian estate and added it to another estate, it must be considered whether the legatee is to claim that part as well, or less by this much, as if it had ceased to belong to the Titian estate, since the names of estates and houses are established by our designation, not by nature.
et magis est, ut quod alii destinatum est ademptum esse uideatur.
And it is more correct that what was designated for another estate should be deemed to have been revoked.
§30.1.24.4Si nauem legauero et specialiter meam adscripsero eamque per partes totam refecero, carina eadem manente nihilo minus recte a legatario uindicaretur.
If I bequeath a ship and specifically designate it as mine, and repair it entirely part by part, the keel remaining the same, it would nonetheless be rightly claimed by the legatee.