Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §33.2.39.pr

Bequest to Wife with Restitution to Daughters

Passage 4991 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

In a will bequeathing items to a wife with a provision that ownership should return to the daughters in the future, the question arises whether usufruct or ownership was given to the wife, and it is answered that ownership was bequeathed.

[IDEM libro sexto responsorum. ] §33.2.39.prFilios heredes instituit, uxori uestem mundum muliebrem lanam linum et alias res legauit et adiecit: 'proprietatem autem eorum, quae supra scripta sunt, reuerti uolo ad filias meas quaeue ex his tunc uiuent': quaesitum est, utrum usus fructus an proprietas earum rerum data sit.
[THE SAME, From the Sixth Book of his Opinions.] He appointed his sons as heirs, bequeathed to his wife clothing, women's ornaments, wool, flax, and other things, and added: 'But I wish the ownership of those things which are written above to return to my daughters, or whichever of them shall then be alive.' It was asked whether the usufruct or the ownership of those things was given.
respondit proprietatem legatam uideri.
He answered that it appeared that ownership was bequeathed.

Notes

  1. §33.2.39.prquaeue ex his tunc uiuent — The relative pronoun `quae` combined with the disjunctive enclitic `-ue` ('or'). The antecedent is `filias meas` in the preceding phrase, to which `ex his` also refers. The whole clause means 'or whichever of them (the daughters) shall be alive at that time' (i.e., at the time of the transfer, such as the wife's death).
  2. §33.2.39.prproprietatem legatam uideri — An accusative with infinitive construction (subject accusative `proprietatem` + infinitive `legatam [esse] uideri`) depending on the main verb `respondit`. It indicates that, despite the proviso that ownership should eventually go to the daughters, ownership itself (albeit restricted or subject to reversion/fideicommissum) was held to be bequeathed to the wife, rather than a mere usufruct.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §33.2.39.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:33.2.39.pr

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