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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §33.1.14.pr

Validity and Estimation of Annual Legacies with Unspecified Sums

Passage 4941 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Ulpian contrasts the opinion of Mela, who considers an annual legacy without a specified amount to be void, with the more correct view of Nerva, who suggests determining the amount based on the testator's past practice or the recipient's status.

[ULPIANUS libro secundo fideicommissorum. ] §33.1.14.prSi cui annuum fuerit relictum sine adiectione summae, nihil uideri huic adscriptum Mela ait: sed est uerior Neruae sententia, quod testator praestare solitus fuerat, id uideri relictum: si minus, ex dignitate personae statui oportebit.
[ULPIAN, book two on Trusts.] If an annual legacy has been left to someone without the addition of a sum, Mela says that nothing is deemed to have been written down for this person. But Nerva's opinion is more correct: that what the testator had been accustomed to provide, that is deemed to have been left; if not, it will be necessary to determine it based on the status of the person.

Notes

  1. §33.1.14.prnihil uideri huic adscriptum — This is an accusative and infinitive construction governed by Mela ait, where nihil is the subject accusative and uideri is the infinitive. adscriptum is an ellipsis of adscriptum esse. It expresses Mela's negative view that a legacy of an annual sum with no specified amount is void.
  2. §33.1.14.prsi minus — An elliptical expression meaning "otherwise" or "if not." It refers to the case where the condition described in the preceding clause—namely, that the testator had a habit of providing a certain sum during his lifetime—is not met.
  3. §33.1.14.prex dignitate personae — Meaning "based on the status/dignity of the person." It indicates that when the amount is unspecified and there is no prior history of provision, the appropriate amount of the legacy should be determined according to the recipient's social standing, rank, or closeness of relationship with the deceased.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §33.1.14.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:33.1.14.pr

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