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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §34.3.21.pr-34.3.21.2

Extinction of Debt Legacies by Discharge and Merger

Passage 5221 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Discusses the general rule that a legacy is extinguished when the underlying debt is discharged, its application to merger (confusio) when a creditor becomes the debtor's heir, and the exception when an heir forestalls a conditional legacy by collecting the debt.

[TERENTIUS CLEMENS libro duodecimo ad legem Iuliam et Papiam. ] §34.3.21.prSi id quod mihi deberes uel tibi uel alii legauero idque mihi solueris uel qualibet alia ratione liberatus a me fueris, exstinguitur legatum.
If I bequeath either to you or to another what you owe me, and you pay it to me or are released from me by any other method, the legacy is extinguished.
§34.3.21.1Unde Iuliano placuit et si debitori heres exstiterit creditor posteaque ipse creditor decesserit, legatum extingui: et hoc uerum est, quia confusione perinde exstinguitur obligatio ac solutione.
Hence Julian was of the opinion that even if the creditor becomes the heir of the debtor and the creditor himself subsequently dies, the legacy is extinguished; and this is correct, because an obligation is extinguished by confusion just as much as by payment.
§34.3.21.2Sed si sub condicione dato legato heres praeoccupauerit et exegerit debitum, aliud dici oportet, quia in arbitrio heredis esse non debet, ut quandoque condicione existente neque ipsi legatario debcatur legatum, si tum uiuat et capere possit, neque ei, ad quem hoc commodum peruenit, si legatarius capere non possit.
But if, where a legacy was given under a condition, the heir forestalls the condition and exacts the debt, a different view must be stated, because it ought not to depend on the discretion of the heir that, when the condition is fulfilled, the legacy is due neither to the legatee himself, if he is then alive and capable of taking, nor to him to whom this benefit would have passed if the legatee were not capable of taking.

Notes

  1. §34.3.21.1et si debitori heres exstiterit creditor — The conjunction 'et si' introduces a concession ('even if'). Here, it takes the verb exstiterit (either future perfect indicative or perfect subjunctive), paired with decesserit. The noun debitori is a dative depending on heres exstiterit (became the heir of), describing the merger where the creditor inherits from the debtor.
  2. §34.3.21.2sub condicione dato legato — An ablative absolute construction with dato legato as its core, expressing the background circumstance: 'when a legacy has been given (under a condition)'.
  3. §34.3.21.2in arbitrio heredis esse non debet, ut — The ut-clause explains the substance of 'in arbitrio heredis esse' (to be in the discretion of the heir). It governs two parallel negative results: 'neque ipsi legatario debeatur legatum...' and 'neque ei [debeatur]...'. The overall syntax means 'it ought not to be in the power of the heir that [such-and-such consequences follow]'. Note that 'debcatur' in the text is a typographical error for 'debeatur'.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §34.3.21.pr-34.3.21.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:34.3.21.pr-34.3.21.2

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