Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §33.2.15.pr-33.2.15.1

Bequest of Habitation and Usufructuary's Passage

Passage 4967 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Marcellus considers the bequest of habitation as a single bequest, and discusses the obligation to secure a right of passage for a usufructuary when one of two estates is bequeathed and the usufruct of the other is given to another.

[MARCELLUS libro tertio decimo digestorum. ] §33.2.15.pr'Damnas esto heres Titium sinere in illa domo habitare, quoad uiuet': unum uidetur esse legatum.
[MARCELLUS, Digest, Book XIII.] 'My heir shall be bound to allow Titius to live in that house as long as he lives': this is deemed to be a single bequest.
§33.2.15.1Qui duos fundos habebat, unum legauit et alterius fundi usum fructum alii legauit: quaero, si fructuarius ad fundum aliunde uiam non habeat quam per illum fundum qui legatus est, an fructuario seruitus debeatur.
A person who owned two estates bequeathed one of them, and bequeathed the usufruct of the other estate to another person: I ask, if the usufructuary has no access to his estate from elsewhere than through that estate which was bequeathed, whether a servitude is owed to the usufructuary.
respondit, quemadmodum, si in hereditate esset fundus, per quem fructuario potest praestari uia, secundum uoluntatem defuncti uidetur id exigere ab herede, ita et in hac specie non aliter concedendum esse legatario fundum uindicare, nisi prius ius transeundi usufructuario praestet, ut haec forma in agris seruetur, quae uiuo testatore optinuerit, siue donec usus fructus permanet siue dum ad suam proprietatem redierit.
He replied that, just as, if there were an estate in the inheritance through which a way could be provided to the usufructuary, he would be deemed to demand this from the heir in accordance with the will of the deceased, so also in this case, the legatee must not be allowed to claim the estate unless he first provides the right of passage to the usufructuary, so that this condition may be maintained in the lands which prevailed while the testator was alive, whether as long as the usufruct lasts, or until it returns to its own ownership.

Notes

  1. §33.2.15.prDamnas esto heres — A formulaic imperative expression in the bequest of obligation (legatum per damnationem). It is a combination of damnas (adjective, nominative) and esto (third-person singular future imperative of the irregular verb sum), meaning "the heir shall be bound to...", followed by the infinitive sinere.
  2. §33.2.15.1non aliter concedendum esse legatario fundum uindicare, nisi prius ius transeundi usufructuario praestet — A double negative structure non aliter... nisi..., meaning "not otherwise... unless...". The infinitive phrase fundum uindicare (to claim the estate) stands as the subject of the gerundive concedendum esse (impersonal passive), with legatario as the dative of agent. The verb in the nisi-clause, praestet, is in the present subjunctive, expressing a condition.
  3. §33.2.15.1uiuo testatore — An ablative absolute structure consisting of the noun testatore and the adjective uiuo, expressing the temporal circumstance "while the testator was alive".

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §33.2.15.pr-33.2.15.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:33.2.15.pr-33.2.15.1

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.