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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §30.1.30.pr-30.1.30.7

Scope of the Three-Year Installment Clause for Legacies

Passage 4626 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Ulpianus explains the interpretation of a three-year installment clause in a testament, showing that it applies only to legacies of fungible goods without set times, and does not apply to specific things, conditional, timed, or immediate legacies.

[ULPIANUS libro nono decimo ad Sabinum. ] §30.1.30.prTalis scriptura: 'quas pecunias legaui, quibus dies adpositus non est, eas heres meus annua bima trima die dato', ad corpora legata non pertinet, sed ad ea quae pondere numero mensura continentur.
[ULPIANUS, Book 19 of Commentary on Sabinus.] Such a writing: "Whatever money I have bequeathed, to which no time has been attached, let my heir pay it in annual, biennial, and triennial installments," does not apply to bequests of specific things, but to those which are determined by weight, number, or measure.
§30.1.30.1Et ad ea tantum legata pertinet, quibus dies non est adpositus: proinde si forte pure legatum est, ex hac adiectione prorogabitur.
And it applies only to those legacies to which no time is attached; therefore, if indeed a legacy has been bequeathed unconditionally and immediately, it will be deferred by this addition.
§30.1.30.2Quid si forte centum mihi legata sunt praesentia, utrum annua die dabuntur an uero praesentia? et ait Seruius et Labeo praesens deberi.
What if, for instance, a hundred is bequeathed to me "immediately"? Will it be given in annual installments or indeed immediately? Servius and Labeo say that it is due immediately.
quamuis igitur superuacua sit haec adiectio, quantum ad uim et effectum legati pertinet, tamen ad hoc proficiet, ut praesenti die legatum debeatur.
Therefore, although this addition is superfluous as far as the force and effect of the legacy is concerned, it will nevertheless be effective to the end that the legacy is due immediately.
§30.1.30.3Sed si in annos singulos aut singulos menses sit legatum relictum, cessabit ea scriptura, quia hoc legatum et initium et finem habet.
But if a legacy is left to be paid annually or monthly, that writing will not apply, because this legacy has both a beginning and an end.
§30.1.30.4Sed et si sub condicione sit legatum relictum, potest dici cessare annuam adiectionem, quia dies incertus appellatur condicio.
But also if a legacy is left under a condition, it can be said that the annual addition does not apply, because an uncertain time is called a condition.
§30.1.30.5Cui congruit quod Trebatius existimat, si cui legetur, quando annorum uiginti erit, uulgarem hanc clausulam cessare.
With which agrees what Trebatius thinks, that if a legacy is left to someone "when he shall be twenty years of age," this common clause does not apply.
§30.1.30.6Item si legetur pecunia quae in arca est uel uinum quod in apothecis est, dicendum est cessare clausulam, quoniam quotiens species legetur, cessare diximus.
Likewise, if the money which is in the chest or the wine which is in the storehouses is bequeathed, it must be said that the clause does not apply, since we have said that whenever a specific thing is bequeathed, it does not apply.
§30.1.30.7Hanc autem scripturam non solum ad praecedentia sola legata, sed ad uniuersa quae testamento adscripta sunt, extendi Gallus Aquilius, Ofilius, Trebatius responderunt idque uerum est.
Furthermore, Gallus Aquilius, Ofilius, and Trebatius answered that this writing is extended not only to the preceding legacies alone, but to all those which are written in the testament, and this is true.

Notes

  1. 30.1.30.prannua bima trima die dato — "die dato" is an ablative expression (noun "dies" with the perfect participle "datus"), modified by the adjectives "annua, bima, trima" (annual, biennial, triennial). It means "with a payment date given in the first, second, and third years," indicating payment in three annual installments.
  2. 30.1.30.2superuacua sit haec adiectio — "haec adiectio" (this addition) refers to the word "praesentia" (immediate) added to the legacy. Since an unconditional legacy (pure legatum) is by default due immediately, this word is technically "superfluous" (superuacua) in terms of its core effect, but it serves to exclude the general three-year installment clause, thereby ensuring immediate payment.
  3. 30.1.30.4dies incertus appellatur condicio — Explains the fundamental Roman law principle that "an uncertain time (dies incertus) is called a condition." Since legacies with an uncertain time of payment are treated as conditional, they are distinguished from legacies with an unspecified time, and are thus excluded from installment payments.
  4. 30.1.30.7extendi — The present passive infinitive in the accusative with infinitive (A.C.I.) construction, functioning as the object of the verb "responderunt". The subject accusative is "hanc scripturam". It indicates that Gallus Aquilius and others answered that "this writing is extended" (to all legacies).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §30.1.30.pr-30.1.30.7. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:30.1.30.pr-30.1.30.7

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