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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §34.5.25.pr

Ambiguous Designation in a Will and Evidence of Intention

Passage 5289 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It is argued that even if the designation of a person in a testament is ambiguous, the testator's will must be fulfilled if it can be determined from other evidence whom the testator meant.

[CELSUS libro uicesimo secundo digestorum. ] §34.5.25.pr'Quem heredi meo dixero uelle me liberum esse, liber esto.
[CELSUS, from the twenty-second book of the Digests.] 'Let him, whom I shall have told my heir that I wish to be free, be free.
cui ut dare damnas sit heres meus, dixero, ei heres meus dare damnas esto'. testatoris uoluntas, si quibusdam argumentis apparebit, de quo dixit, adimplenda est.
To whomsoever I shall have said my heir is condemned to give, to him let my heir be condemned to give.' The will of the testator must be fulfilled, if it appears from certain proofs about whom he spoke.

Notes

  1. §34.5.25.prQuem heredi meo dixero uelle me liberum esse — The relative pronoun 'quem' serves as the subject accusative of the infinitive 'uelle' within the relative clause, forming an accusative-and-infinitive construction governed by 'dixero' (future perfect). 'liberum esse' is the complementary infinitive of 'uelle'. The entire relative clause qualifies the unexpressed subject of the main clause 'liber esto' (future imperative).
  2. §34.5.25.prdare damnas esto — 'damnas' is an archaic syncopated form of 'damnatus' (condemned, bound), used in the ancient formulaic expression for legacies (legatum per damnationem). 'dare damnas esto' means 'shall be bound/condemned to give'.
  3. §34.5.25.prde quo dixit — An indirect question clause ('about whom he spoke') which functions either as the subject of the conditional verb 'apparebit' or as a noun clause specifying the object of the testator's will.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §34.5.25.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:34.5.25.pr

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