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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §31.0.44.pr-31.0.44.1

Legacies Charged on Co-Heirs and Cumulative Bequests

Passage 4771 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The text explains that when several heirs are appointed, a legacy charged on "my heir" is treated as a joint obligation, and that identical legacies charged on different heirs in different places are cumulative unless proven to be a revocation.

[IDEM libro quarto ad Quintum Mucium. ] §31.0.44.prSi pluribus heredibus institutis ita scriptum sit: 'heres meus damnas esto dare aureos quinque', non quilibet heres, sed omnes uidebuntur damnati, ut una quinque dent.
[THE SAME in the fourth book on Quintus Mucius.] If, where several heirs have been appointed, it is written: 'Let my heir be under obligation to give five gold pieces,' not any heir you please, but all of them will be deemed to be under the obligation to give five pieces together.
§31.0.44.1Si ita legatum fuerit: 'Lucius Titius heres meus Tithaso quinque aureos dare damnas esto', deinde alio loco ita: 'Publius Maeuius heres meus Tithaso quinque aureos damnas esto dare', nisi Titius ostenderit adimendi causa a Publio legatum esse relictum, quinos aureos ab utroque accipiet.
If a legacy has been left in this way: 'Let my heir Lucius Titius be under obligation to give five gold pieces to Tithasus,' and then in another place as follows: 'Let my heir Publius Maevius be under obligation to give five gold pieces to Tithasus,' unless Titius shows that the legacy charged on Publius was left for the purpose of revoking [the other legacy], [Tithasus] will receive five gold pieces from each of them.

Notes

  1. 31.0.44.prheres meus — Although the singular expression 'my heir' is used under the condition of multiple appointed heirs (`pluribus heredibus institutis`), it is interpreted not as imposing an individual obligation of five gold pieces on any single heir (`quilibet heres`), but as imposing a joint obligation on all heirs (`omnes`) to pay five gold pieces collectively (`una`).
  2. 31.0.44.1a Publio — In testamentary law, the preposition `a` (or `ab`) with the ablative indicating a person in relation to a legacy denotes the heir charged with the payment of that legacy. Thus, `a Publio legatum esse relictum` means 'that the legacy charged on Publius was left,' rather than 'that the legacy was left by Publius [as the testator].'
  3. 31.0.44.1quinos — Accusative plural of the distributive numeral, meaning 'five each.' By using the distributive numeral instead of the cardinal (`quinque`), it is clarified that cumulative legacies are created, meaning Tithasus will receive five gold pieces from each of the two heirs (making a total of ten).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §31.0.44.pr-31.0.44.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:31.0.44.pr-31.0.44.1

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