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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §30.1.65.pr-30.1.65.2

Legacies with Exceptions, Conditional on Will, and Rebuilt Houses

Passage 4661 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This passage discusses the rules regarding the legacy of slaves with exceptions, the non-transmission of conditional legacies requiring the legatee's consent to heirs, and the validity of a legacy of a rebuilt house.

[IDEM libro primo de legatis ad edictum praetoris. ] §30.1.65.prSi ita legatum sit: 'Seio seruos decem do praeter eos decem, quos Titio legaui', si quidem decem tantum inueniantur in hereditate, inutile est legatum, si uero ampliores, post eos, quos Titius elegit, in ceteris ualet legatum, sed non in ampliores quam decem qui legati sunt: quod si minus 1 sunt, in tantos, quanti inueniantur.
[THE SAME, Book 1 on Legacies, on the Praetorian Edict.] If a legacy is bequeathed in this manner: "I give to Seius ten slaves besides those ten whom I have bequeathed to Titius," if indeed only ten are found in the inheritance, the legacy is void; but if there are more, the legacy is valid in the remainder, after those whom Titius has chosen, but not for more than the ten who were bequeathed; but if there are fewer, it is valid for as many as are found.
§30.1.65.1'Illi, si uolet, Stichum do': condicionale est legatum et non aliter ad heredem transit, quam si legatarius uoluerit, quamuis alias quod sine adiectione 'si uolet' legatum sit, ad heredem legatarii transmittitur: aliud est enim iuris, si quid tacite contineatur, aliud, si uerbis exprimatur.
"I give Stichus to him, if he wishes": this legacy is conditional and does not pass to the heir otherwise than if the legatee has so wished, although in other cases a legacy bequeathed without the addition "if he wishes" is transmitted to the heir of the legatee; for it is one thing under the law if something is tacitly contained, and another if it is expressed in words.
§30.1.65.2Si domus fuerit legata, licet particulatim ita refecta sit, ut nihil ex pristina materia supersit, tamen dicemus utile manere legatum: at si ea domu destructa aliam eodem loco testator aedificauerit, dicemus interire legatum, nisi aliud testatorem sensisse fuerit adprobatum.
If a house has been bequeathed, although it has been repaired piece by piece in such a way that nothing remains of the original material, we shall nevertheless say that the legacy remains valid; but if, after that house has been demolished, the testator has built another in the same place, we shall say that the legacy perishes, unless it is proved that the testator intended otherwise.

Notes

  1. 30.1.65.prpraeter eos decem — The preposition praeter can mean either "in addition to" or "except/besides." Here, given the context of avoiding duplication after Titius has made his choice, it is interpreted in the latter sense ("excluding those ten").
  2. 30.1.65.1aliud ... iuris — iuris is a partitive genitive qualifying the neuter pronoun aliud, meaning "another matter of law" or "a different legal rule."
  3. 30.1.65.2nisi aliud testatorem sensisse fuerit adprobatum — The accusative and infinitive clause testatorem sensisse (that the testator intended otherwise) functions as the subject of the passive verb fuerit adprobatum (it has been proved).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §30.1.65.pr-30.1.65.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:30.1.65.pr-30.1.65.2

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