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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §35.2.52.pr-35.2.52.1

Reduction of Legacies and Credit to the Falcidian Fourth

Passage 5497 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section discusses a case where the reduction of a legacy to a stranger benefits the son in receiving his full legacy in a freedman's will, and states the principle that unpaid legacies are credited toward the heir's Falcidian fourth.

[MARCELLUS libro nono digestorum. ] §35.2.52.prEx asse patronum heredem instituit libertus, cum ducentos aureos in bonis haberet, et legauit filio centum uiginti, extraneo reliqua: deminutio legati, quod extraneo praestat legatum, proficit filio ad consequenda solida, quae ei legata sunt.
[MARCELLUS in the ninth book of his Digests.] A freedman, when he had two hundred aurei in his property, appointed his patron heir to his entire estate, and bequeathed one hundred and twenty to his son, and the remainder to a stranger: the reduction of the legacy, which legacy he pays to the stranger, profits the son toward obtaining the full amount which was bequeathed to him.
§35.2.52.1Quacumque ex causa legata non praestantur, imputantur heredi in quartam partem quae propter legem Falcidiam remanere apud eum debet.
For whatever reason legacies are not paid, they are imputed to the heir toward the fourth part which ought to remain with him on account of the Lex Falcidia.

Notes

  1. §35.2.52.prex asse patronum heredem instituit — instituit is the third-person singular perfect meaning 'appointed,' with libertus (freedman) as its subject. patronum (patron) is the accusative object, and heredem is the predicative accusative. ex asse means 'from the whole estate' (12/12ths, i.e., the entirety), indicating appointment as the sole heir.
  2. §35.2.52.prquod extraneo praestat legatum — A structure where the antecedent legatum of the relative pronoun quod (neuter singular) is attracted into the relative clause. The subject of praestat is contextually the heir (patronus), translating to 'the legacy which he pays to the stranger.'
  3. §35.2.52.prad consequenda solida — A gerundive construction where the preposition ad (expressing purpose) governs the noun solida (neuter plural accusative, meaning 'the full amount') in agreement with the gerundive consequenda. It expresses the purpose 'to obtain the full amount.'
  4. §35.2.52.1imputantur heredi in quartam partem — The subject of imputantur is legata (legacies) from the preceding clause. heredi is a dative of advantage ('for the heir'). It means that the unpaid legacies are credited or imputed 'to the fourth part' (quartam partem) that the heir is entitled to retain under the Lex Falcidia.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §35.2.52.pr-35.2.52.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:35.2.52.pr-35.2.52.1

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