Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §30.1.33.pr

Rights When the Same Thing Is Bequeathed to Multiple Legatees

Passage 4629 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Paulus explains the scope of the legatees' rights, the interpretation of the testator's intention, and the allocation of the choice between the thing and its price when the same object is bequeathed to multiple individuals either jointly or separately.

[PAULUS libro tertio regularum. ] §30.1.33.prSi pluribus eadem res legata fuerit, si quidem coniunctim, etiamsi alter uindicet, alter ex testamento agat, non plus quam partem habebit is qui ex testamento aget: quod si separatim, si quidem euidentissime apparuerit ademptione a priore legatario facta ad secundum legatum testatorem conuolasse, solum posteriorem ad legatum peruenire placet: sin autem hoc minime apparere potest, pro uirili portione ad legatum omnes uenire: scilicet nisi ipse testator ex scriptura manifestissimus est utrumque eorum solidum accipere uoluisse: tunc enim uni pretium, alii ipsa res adsignatur electione rei uel pretii seruanda ei, qui prior de legato siue fideicommisso litem contestatus est, ita tamen, ut non habeat licentiam altero electo ad alterum transire.
[PAULUS, Book 3 of Rules.] If the same thing has been bequeathed to several persons, if indeed jointly, then even if one claims it by real action and the other sues on the testament, the one who sues on the testament will not have more than a share; but if separately, if indeed it appears most clearly that the testator, having revoked it from the prior legatee, turned to the second legacy, it is held that only the latter succeeds to the legacy; but if this cannot appear at all, all succeed to the legacy in equal shares; unless, of course, the testator himself is most clearly shown from the writing to have wished both of them to receive the whole; for in that case, the price is assigned to one, and the thing itself to the other, the choice of the thing or the price being reserved for the one who first joined issue concerning the legacy or trust, yet in such a way that he does not have the liberty, once one has been chosen, to cross over to the other.

Notes

  1. 30.1.33.prademptione a priore legatario facta — Ablative absolute construction: "a revocation having been made from the prior legatee." The phrase a priore legatario denotes the source from whom the legacy is taken (separation) or the agent of the passive idea implied in ademptio.
  2. 30.1.33.prpro uirili portione ad legatum omnes uenire — Infinitive clause dependent on the governing verb placet. The phrase pro uirili portione (literally "according to a man's share") is an idiomatic expression meaning "in equal shares" or "per capita."
  3. 30.1.33.prelectione rei uel pretii seruanda ei — Ablative absolute construction containing the future passive participle (gerundive) seruanda: "the choice of the thing or the price to be reserved for him." The pronoun ei (dative) functions as the dative of agent or reference with the gerundive.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §30.1.33.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:30.1.33.pr

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.