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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §32.0.6.pr-32.0.6.1

Requests to Heir's Heirs and Incidental Beneficiaries

Passage 4826 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Paulus argues that a trust asking an heir to request their own heir to make a delivery to a third party is valid, whereas it is invalid to impose a trust and create an obligation on a person who acquires an inheritance merely by chance without any benefit from the testator.

[PAULUS libro primo fideicommissorum. ] §32.0.6.prSed et si sic fideicommissum dedero ab herede meo: 'te rogo, Luci Titi, ut ab herede tuo petas dari Maeuio decem aureos', utile erit fideicommissum, scilicet ut mortuo Titio ab herede eius peti possit: idque et Iulianus respondit.
[PAULUS from the first book on Trusts.] But also if I leave a trust from my heir in this manner: 'I ask you, Lucius Titius, to request that ten gold pieces be given to Maevius by your heir', the trust will be valid, namely so that after the death of Titius it can be claimed from his heir; and Julian also answered to this effect.
§32.0.6.1Sic autem fideicommissum dari non poterit: 'si Stichus Seii factus iussu eius hereditatem adierit, rogo det', quoniam qui fortuito, non iudicio testatoris consequitur hereditatem uel legatum, non debet onerari, nec recipiendum est, ut, cui nihil dederis, eum rogando obliges.
However, a trust cannot be given in this manner: 'If Stichus becomes the property of Seius and enters upon the inheritance by his order, I ask that he give it', since one who acquires an inheritance or a legacy by chance, and not by the judgment of the testator, ought not to be burdened; nor should it be accepted that you may obligate a person, to whom you have given nothing, by making a request of him.

Notes

  1. §32.0.6.1Seii factus — Meaning 'having become the property of Seius'. The possessive genitive `Seii` functions as a complement to `fieri` (here its perfect participle `factus`), expressing a transition of ownership ('to become someone's').
  2. §32.0.6.1cui nihil dederis, eum rogando obliges — The relative clause `cui nihil dederis` ('to whom you have given nothing') is placed before its antecedent `eum` ('him') in the main clause. `eum` is the direct object of the verb `obliges` within the subordinate `ut... obliges` clause, and `rogando` is a gerund in the ablative expressing means.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §32.0.6.pr-32.0.6.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:32.0.6.pr-32.0.6.1

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