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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §34.1.9.pr-34.1.9.1

Scope of Trust Claims and Beneficiaries of Lifetime Support

Passage 5145 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

A case determining the scope of claims a trustee can make against an heir in a trust-bequest for the maintenance of foster-children with a reversion to another freedman, and defining which freedmen qualify for maintenance based on what the patroness provided during her lifetime.

[IDEM libro octauo responsorum. ] §34.1.9.prAlio herede instituto ita scripsit: 'a te peto, Gai Sei, quidquid ex hereditate mea redegeris, illis alumnis meis des singulis denos aureos eandemque summam penes te esse uolo, cuius ex incremento eos alere te uolo: reliquum restitues Numerio conliberto nostro'. respondi, quamuis distrahere bona Gaius Seius alio scripto herede non possit, tamen eum, alumnis relictam pecuniam ut seruet ac restituat, intra Falcidiam recte petiturum: quod de superfluo probari non potest. §34.1.9.1Eum quoque libertum inter eos, quibus cibaria, item uestiarium patrona, quae uiua praestabat, reliquit, recte fideicommissum petiturum existimaui, qui annuos uiginti aureos et menstruum frumentum atque uinum acceptauit.
Having instituted another person as heir, the testator wrote as follows: "I ask of you, Gaius Seius, that from whatever you recover from my estate, you give ten aurei to each of those foster-children of mine, and I wish that the same sum remain in your hands, from the income of which I wish you to maintain them; the remainder you shall restore to Numerius, our fellow-freedman." I replied that although Gaius Seius cannot dispose of the estate since another person has been appointed heir, he can nevertheless rightfully claim, within the limits of the Lex Falcidia, the money left to the foster-children so that he may keep and restore it; but this cannot be established with respect to the surplus. I was also of the opinion that a freedman who had received twenty aurei annually and a monthly allowance of grain and wine could rightfully claim the trust-bequest, being included among those to whom their patroness had left the food and also the clothing which she used to provide during her lifetime.

Notes

  1. §34.1.9.pralio herede instituto — Ablative absolute, indicating that the testator appointed a third party as heir rather than Gaius Seius himself. Consequently, Gaius Seius acts not as an heir (heres) but as a trustee (fideicommissarius) of the bequest.
  2. §34.1.9.printra Falcidiam — Refers to the restriction under the Lex Falcidia, which required that at least one-quarter of the estate remain with the heir. If the trust-bequests exceed this limit, they must be reduced proportionally; hence, Gaius Seius can only claim within the permissible limits under this law.
  3. §34.1.9.prquod de superfluo probari non potest — This means that Gaius Seius cannot justify or prove a right to claim immediately from the heir the "surplus" (superfluo), which refers to the remaining property (reliquum) destined eventually for Numerius, as it is not immediately necessary for the maintenance of the foster-children.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §34.1.9.pr-34.1.9.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:34.1.9.pr-34.1.9.1

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