Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §35.1.98.pr

Conditional Legacy of One's Own Property and Its Timing

Passage 5429 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The principle that one's own property can be bequeathed to oneself under a condition is explained, on the grounds that the time of the fulfillment of the condition, rather than the making of the will, must be considered.

[IDEM libro tertio ad Neratium. ] §35.1.98.prMea res sub condicione legari mihi potest, quia in huiusmodi legatis non testamenti facti tempus, sed condicionis expletae spectari oportet.
[The same in the third book on Neratius.] My own property can be bequeathed to me under a condition, because in legacies of this kind it is not the time of the making of the will, but that of the fulfillment of the condition, which must be considered.

Notes

  1. §35.1.98.prMea res — As a rule of Roman law, property already belonging to the legatee cannot be the object of a legacy; however, if it is bequeathed under a condition (sub condicione), it can be a valid legacy, considering the possibility that the property may no longer belong to the legatee at the time the condition is fulfilled (condicionis expletae tempus).
  2. §35.1.98.prtestamenti facti — The noun testamenti and the perfect participle facti are combined in an 'ab urbe condita' construction to mean "the making of the will" (the will having been made), modifying tempus (time). The subsequent phrase condicionis expletae has the same structure, both referring to the critical point in time for determining the validity of the legacy.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §35.1.98.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:35.1.98.pr

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.