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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §32.0.34.pr-32.0.34.3

Scope of Legacy of Claims, Pre-legacies, and Debt Liability

Passage 4855 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This chunk discusses legal interpretations regarding the scope of legacy of debts and prelegacies, and who is responsible for bearing the debts specified in a testament.

[IDEM libro sexto decimo digestorum. ] §32.0.34.prNomen debitoris in haec uerba legauit: 'Titio hoc amplius dari uolo decem aureos, quos mihi heredes Gaii Seii debent, aduersus quos ei actionem mandari uolo eique eorundem pignora tradi'. quaero, utrum heredes tantum decem dare debeant an in omne debitum, hoc est in usuras debeant mandare.
He bequeathed the name of a debtor in these words: 'I wish to Titius, in addition to this, ten aurei to be given, which the heirs of Gaius Seius owe me, against whom I wish the action to be mandated to him and the pledges of the same to be delivered to him.' I ask whether the heirs ought to mandate only ten, or whether they ought to mandate for the whole debt, that is, for the interest.
respondit uideri uniuersam eius nominis obligationem legatam.
He answered that the entire obligation of that name seems to have been bequeathed.
item quaero, cum ignorante matre familias actores in prouincia adiectis sorti usuris decem stipulati sint, an ex causa fideicommissi supra scripti etiam incrementum huius debiti ad Titium pertineat.
I also ask, when, without the knowledge of the mother of the family, the agents in the province, having added interest to the principal, stipulated for ten, whether by the cause of the above-written trust-bequest the increase of this debt also belongs to Titius.
respondit pertinere.
He answered that it belongs.
§32.0.34.1Filio ex parte heredi scripto praeceptionem dedit inter cetera his uerbis: 'Titio filio meo nomina ex calendario, quae elegerit filius meus sibi, uiginti dare damnas sunto sine dolo malo': eidem filio uiuus omnium rerum suarum administrationem permisit: qui post testamentum factum ante mortem patris annis decem, quibus procurabat patri, contra ueterem consuetudinem patris, qua calendarium exercebatur, nouos debitores amplarum pecuniarum fecit et in priores, quos pater exiguarum fortunarum babebat, maius creditum contulit ad hoc, ut uiginti nominibus prope omnis substantia kalendarii esset.
To his son, who was appointed heir for a part, he gave a prelegacy, among other things, in these words: 'To Titius my son, let them be bound under penalty to give without fraud twenty names from the account-book which my son shall choose for himself.' To the same son, while living, he permitted the administration of all his affairs. This son, after the testament was made and ten years before the death of his father, during which he was acting as agent for his father, contrary to the old custom of the father by which the account-book was managed, made new debtors of large sums of money and extended a larger credit to the former ones, whom the father had had with small resources, to this end, that almost the entire substance of the account-book should be in twenty names.
quaesitum est, an huic filio eorum nominum, quae ipse fecit, praeceptio permittenda est.
The question was asked whether to this son the prelegacy of those names which he himself made is to be allowed.
respondit ex his electionem habere, quae testamenti tempore testator in kalendario habuit.
He answered that he has the choice from those which the testator had in the account-book at the time of the testament.
§32.0.34.2Uni ex heredibus per praeceptionem reliquit ea, quae ex patrimonio uiri sui Arethonis ei supererant, eiusque fidei commissit haec eadem restituere pronepoti, cum erit annis sedecim, in quibus haec uerba adiecit: 'item rogo, uti reliquum aes alienum, quod ex bonis Arethonis debetur, omnibus creditoribus ex reditibus eorum bonorum soluas reddas satisque facias'. quaesitum est, an, si probauerit heres non sufficere reditum bonorum ad totius debiti exsolutionem, nihilo minus tamen ipse debet adgnoscere onus aeris alieni.
To one of the heirs, by way of prelegacy, she left those things which remained to her from the patrimony of her husband Arethon, and entrusted to her faith to restore these same things to her great-grandson when he should be sixteen years of age, in which she added these words: 'I also ask that you pay, return, and satisfy all creditors for the remaining debt which is owed from the goods of Arethon out of the revenues of those goods.' The question was asked whether, if the heir should prove that the revenue of the goods is not sufficient for the payment of the whole debt, he must nevertheless himself acknowledge the burden of the debt.
respondit manifeste proponi ex reditibus bonorum eorum iussum aes alienum exsoluere, non de proprio.
He answered that it is clearly proposed that the debt was ordered to be paid out of the revenues of those goods, not out of his own property.
§32.0.34.3Pater filio et filia heredibus institutis cum singulis certa praedia et kalendaria praelegasset, ita cauit: 'a te autem, fili carissime, peto, quaecumque legaui, praestari uolo, et si quid euenerit aeris alieni, si quod in tempus pro, mutuo acceperam et debuero, a te solui uolo, ut quod sorori tuae reliqui, integrum ad eam pertineat'. quaesitum est, an quod ex quacumque causa debuit pater, a filio sit praestandum.
A father, having appointed his son and daughter as heirs, when he had prebequeathed to each of them certain estates and account-books, made this provision: 'Moreover from you, my dearest son, I petition, and I wish whatever I have bequeathed to be performed, and if any debt should arise, if I had received any as a loan at that time and should owe it, I wish it to be paid by you, so that what I have left to your sister may belong to her entire.' The question was asked whether what the father owed from whatever cause must be performed by the son.
respondit posse filiam ex fideicommisso consequi ut leuaretur, quo magis integrum, quod testator dedisset, ad eam peruenisset.
He answered that the daughter could obtain through the trust-bequest that she be relieved, so that what the testator had given might come to her more entire.

Notes

  1. 32.0.34.prstipulati sint — The verb "stipulari" is a deponent verb with active meaning ("to secure a promise, stipulate"). Here, it indicates that the agents (actores) acting on behalf of the creditor actively demanded and established the claim including the interest.
  2. 32.0.34.1dare damnas sunto — A formal legal command using the adjective "damnas" ("they shall be bound to give"). It imposes a legal obligation on the other co-heirs to deliver the bequeathed objects (the twenty names) to the legatee.
  3. 32.0.34.3ut quod sorori tuae reliqui, integrum ad eam pertineat — A purpose clause introduced by the conjunction "ut" ("so that"). It expresses the father's intention in ordering his son to pay all debts, which was to ensure that the legacy left to the daughter remains intact without deduction.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §32.0.34.pr-32.0.34.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:32.0.34.pr-32.0.34.3

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