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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §31.0.16.pr

Performance and Claims of Legacies to Alternative Legatees

Passage 4742 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This passage explains that an heir is released from a legacy by performing it to either of two alternative legatees, and that if the heir fails to perform, both can claim the legacy as joint creditors.

[IDEM libro sexto decimo digestorum. ] §31.0.16.prSi Titio aut Seio, utri heres uellet, legatum relictum est, heres alteri dando ab utroque liberatur: si neutri dat, uterque perinde petere potest atque si ipsi soli legatum foret: nam ut stipulando duo rei constitui possunt, ita et testamento potest id fieri.
[THE SAME, in the sixteenth book of his digests.] If a legacy has been left to Titius or Seius, whichever of them the heir should wish, the heir is released from both by giving to one of them; if he gives to neither, each can sue just as if the legacy had been left to himself alone: for just as two joint parties can be established by stipulation, so also can this be done by a will.

Notes

  1. §31.0.16.prutri heres uellet — The dative form "utri" is the dative singular of the pronominal adjective "uter" (whichever of the two). With "heres uellet" (imperfect subjunctive), it functions as a relative clause of choice (or indirect question): "to whichever of the two the heir should wish."
  2. §31.0.16.prduo rei — Here "reus" means "party," and "duo rei" refers to "joint creditors" (duo rei stipulandi) who can demand the same undivided performance. The argument is that just as a joint obligation can be created by a stipulation (stipulatio), it can also be established by a testament (testamentum).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §31.0.16.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:31.0.16.pr

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