[SCAEUOLA libro uicesimo primo digestorum. ] §35.2.94.prFilio et filia scriptis heredibus singulis certa praelegauit, sed longe minus filiae, cui etiam domum obligatam praelegauit cum instrumentis et quicquid ibi fuerit et adiecit haec uerba: 'sed ea condicione lego, ut quidquid aeris alieni in ea domo erit, Titius libertus filii mei exsoluat et sit eis utrisque domus communis'. quaesitum est, si filia legis Falcidiae beneficio uti uolet ad quartam retinendam, an ex hereditate, quae ei relicta est, deducto aere alieno eius quod superfuerit quartam consequi debeat.
[SCAEUOLA, Digests, Book 21] He designated his son and daughter as heirs and bequeathed specific things in advance to each, but far less to the daughter, to whom he also bequeathed in advance a mortgaged house with its equipment and whatever was there, adding these words: 'but I bequeath under this condition, that whatever debt there is on that house, Titius, my son's freedman, shall pay off, and the house shall be common to both of them.' The question was, if the daughter wishes to use the benefit of the Falcidian law to retain her fourth, whether she ought to obtain her fourth from the inheritance left to her, after deducting the debt, out of what remains.
respondit iure quidem id postulaturam, uerum non alias ea, quae ei data sunt, accepturam, si modo ea quartam suppleant, quam uoluntati defuncti soluendum praestando pareret.
He replied that legally she would indeed demand this, but she would not otherwise receive what was given to her (provided that those things make up the fourth) unless she complied with the deceased's will by ensuring the payment.