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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §32.0.83.pr-32.0.83.1

Restitution of Fruits and Definition of Descendants in Trusts

Passage 4907 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It is established that in a bequest with a duty of restoration, fruits gathered during the heir's lifetime are not included, and that the term 'descendants' in a trust-bequest includes only free-born children, not freedmen.

[IDEM libro decimo responsorum. ] §32.0.83.prQuod his uerbis relictum est: 'quidquid ex hereditate bonisue meis ad te peruenerit, cum morieris, restituas', fructus, quos hores uiuus percepit, item quae fructuum uice sunt non uenire placuisse: nec enim quicquam proponi, ex quo de his quoque restituendis testatricem rogasse probari potest.
[THE SAME, from his tenth book of Responses.] Concerning what was bequeathed in these words: 'Whatever shall have come to you from my inheritance or goods, when you die, you shall restore', it was held that the fruits which the heir gathered during his lifetime, and likewise what takes the place of fruits, are not included; for nothing is presented from which it can be proved that the testatrix requested the restoration of these as well.
§32.0.83.1IDEM. Testator, qui libertis fideicommissum relinquebat, substitutione inter eos facta expressit, ut post mortem extremi ad posteros eorum pertineret: quaero, cum nemo alius sit nisi libertus eius qui extremo mortuus est, an is ad fideicommissum admitti debeat.
THE SAME. A testator, who left a trust-bequest to his freedmen, having made a substitution among them, expressed that after the death of the last survivor it should belong to their descendants. I ask, when there is no one else except the freedman of the one who died last, whether he ought to be admitted to the trust-bequest.
respondit: posterorum appellatione liberos tantummodo, non etiam libertos eorum, quibus fideicommissum relictum est, fideicommisso contineri nequaquam incertum est.
He replied: it is by no means uncertain that by the term "descendants" only the children of those to whom the trust-bequest was left are contained in the trust-bequest, and not also their freedmen.

Notes

  1. §32.0.83.prQuod his uerbis relictum est — This `Quod` clause is placed before the main clause (which here features the infinitive `placuisse` in indirect speech) and functions to introduce the topic, meaning "as to what was bequeathed..." or "regarding the fact that...".
  2. §32.0.83.prnon uenire — The verb `uenire` is used here in a technical legal sense meaning "to be included, to fall under, to come into question (as an object of bequest or restoration)". Thus `non uenire` means "not to be included" in the scope of restoration.
  3. §32.0.83.1posterorum appellatione — A legal definition concerning the term `posteri` (descendants/posterity), clarifying that it only includes the (free) children (`liberi`) of the beneficiaries, and not their freedmen (`liberti`). The potential confusion arises from the similarity of the words `liberi` and `liberti` and the scope of the term `posteri`.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §32.0.83.pr-32.0.83.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:32.0.83.pr-32.0.83.1

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