[ULPIANUS libro septuagesimo nono ad edictum. ] §35.3.1.prSi cui plus quam licuerit legetur et dubitari iuste possit, utrum lex Falcidia locum habitura est nec ne, subuenit praetor heredi, ut ei legatarius satisdet, ut, si apparuerit eum amplius legatorum nomine cepisse quam e lege Falcidia capere licebit, quanti ea res erit, tantam pecuniam det dolusque malus ab eo afuturus sit.
[ULPIANUS libro septuagesimo nono ad edictum.] If more than is permitted is bequeathed to someone, and it can be justly doubted whether the Lex Falcidia will apply or not, the praetor assists the heir by requiring the legatee to give security, so that if it appears that he has received more under the name of legacies than is permitted under the Lex Falcidia, he will pay as much money as that matter is worth, and fraud will be absent from him.
§35.3.1.1Neque interest, utrum in primis tabulis hoc fiat an in pupillaribus an in utrisque: etenim legem Falcidiam semel esse admittendam, etiamsi duplex sit testamentum, iam conuenit, contributis legatis tam his, quae ab ipso pupillo quam his, quae a substituto impuberi relicta sunt.
And it makes no difference whether this is done in the primary tablets, or in the pupillary ones, or in both: for it is now agreed that the Lex Falcidia is to be admitted only once, even if there is a double testament, by combining the legacies, both those left by the pupil himself and those left by the substitute for the impuber.
§35.3.1.2Si non fuisset interposita stipulatio ex persona pupilli, tutelae actio heredi pupilli aduersus tutorem competit.
If the stipulation had not been entered into from the person of the pupil, an action on guardianship belongs to the heir of the pupil against the tutor.
sed ut Pomponius ait, et ipsi pupillo et heredi eius poterit committi stipulatio, ipsi quo casu uiuo eo Falcidia incipit locum habere.
But, as Pomponius says, the stipulation can be committed both to the pupil himself and to his heir; to the pupil himself in the case where, while he is alive, the Lex Falcidia begins to apply.
de tutelae quoque actione idem scribit.
He writes the same concerning the action on guardianship.
§35.3.1.3Marcellus ait: qui quadringenta in bonis habebat, inpuberem filium heredem instituit eique substituit Titium et Seium: nihil a pupillo testator legauit, sed a Titio trecenta: utrum ducenta, inquit, praestabuntur an centum quinquaginta? nam trecenta nullo modo eum praestare.
Marcellus says: a testator who had four hundred in his estate instituted his impuber son as heir, and substituted Titius and Seius to him; the testator bequeathed nothing from the pupil, but three hundred from Titius: will two hundred be paid, he asks, or one hundred and fifty? For Titius can in no way pay three hundred.
mihi uidetur uerius non amplius eum parte sua erogare compelli, certe nec minus: secundum quod eueniret, ut non soli committatur stipulatio, sed omnibus heredibus interponenda est, sed causa cognita.
It seems to me more correct that Titius is not compelled to pay more than his share, but certainly no less; according to which it would happen that the stipulation is not committed to one alone, but must be entered into with all the heirs, but after due inquiry.
§35.3.1.4Falcidiam locum habere et legatorum modus facit et aeris alieni onus.
Both the measure of the legacies and the burden of outstanding debt cause the Lex Falcidia to apply.
et si quidem euidens aes alienum est uel certum, facilis est computatio: si autem adhuc incertum est, quia forte uel condicio eius pendet uel creditor litem contestatus est et necdum lis finita est, dubitabitur, quantum legatariis debeatur propter incertum.
And indeed, if the debt is obvious or certain, the computation is easy; but if it is still uncertain, because perhaps its condition is pending or a creditor has joined issue and the lawsuit is not yet finished, there will be doubt as to how much is owed to the legatees because of the uncertainty.
§35.3.1.5Hodie tamen subsimile aliquid fit in fideicommissis.
Today, however, something very similar is done in trust-bequests.
§35.3.1.6Cum dicitur lex Falcidia locum habere, arbiter dari solet ad ineundam quantitatem bonorum, tametsi unus aliquid modicum fideicommissum persequatur: quae computatio praeiudicare non debet ceteris, qui ad arbitrum missi non sunt.
When it is said that the Lex Falcidia applies, an arbiter is usually appointed to assess the quantity of the property, even if only one person seeks a modest trust-bequest; which computation ought not to prejudice the others who were not sent to the arbiter.
solet tamen ab herede etiam ceteris denuntiari fideicommissariis, ut ueniant ad arbitrum ibique causam suam agant, plerumque et creditoribus, ut de aere alieno probent.
However, it is customary for the heir to give notice also to the other beneficiaries of trust-bequests to come to the arbiter and there plead their case, and usually also to the creditors to prove their debt.
habet tamen rationem in legatariis, item in fideicommissariis, ut, si offcrat integrum quod relictum est heres desiderans cauere sibi hac stipulatione, audiatur.
Nevertheless, there is a principle in the case of legatees, and likewise in trust-beneficiaries, that if the heir, desiring to secure himself by this stipulation, offers the whole of what was left, he should be heard.
§35.3.1.7Si legata quaedam praesenti die relicta sint, quaedam sub condicione, interponenda erit ista stipulatio propter legata condicionalia, dummodo ea legata, quae praesenti sint, integra soluantur.
If some legacies are left to be paid immediately, and others under condition, this stipulation must be entered into because of the conditional legacies, provided that those legacies which are due immediately are paid in full.
Iulianus denique scribit, si pure et sub condicione legata fuerint ne exsistente condicione lex Falcidia locum habeat, non aliter legatorum, quae pure data sunt, actionem dari debere, quam si cautum fuerit heredi 'quanto amplius, quam per legem Falcidiam licuerit, ceperit'.
Julian finally writes that if legacies are given unconditionally and under condition, lest the Lex Falcidia apply when the condition is fulfilled, the action for the legacies given unconditionally should not be granted unless security has been given to the heir 'for how much more he has received than is permitted under the Lex Falcidia'.
§35.3.1.8Idem Iulianus scribit eum, cui quadrans sub condicione et dodrans pure legatus est, cauere debere 'quanto amplius, quam per legem Falcidiam liceat, ceperit, reddi'.
The same Julian writes that he to whom a quarter is bequeathed under condition and three-quarters unconditionally must give security 'that how much more he has received than is permitted under the Lex Falcidia shall be returned'.
§35.3.1.9Haec stipulatio ideo locum habet, quia, etsi repeti potest id quod solutum est, tamen fieri potest, ut non sit soluendo is cui solutum est ac per hoc pereat quod datum est.
This stipulation applies for this reason, because, although what has been paid can be recovered, yet it can happen that he to whom payment was made is insolvent, and thereby what was given is lost.
§35.3.1.10In mortis causa quoque donationibus potest dici hanc stipulationem esse interponendam.
In donations mortis causa also, it can be said that this stipulation should be entered into.
§35.3.1.11Haec uerba stipulationis 'quod amplius legatorum nomine ceperis, quam e lege Falcidia capere licebit' non tantum eum comprehendunt, qui amplius accepit, quam ei Falcidia permissit, ut reddat partem, habeat partem, uerum etiam eum qui totum debet restituere.
These words of the stipulation 'what more you have received under the name of legacies than is permitted under the Lex Falcidia' include not only him who has received more than the Falcidia permitted him, so that he returns a part and keeps a part, but also him who must restore the whole.
etenim sciendum est legem Falcidiam interdum partem eius quod datum est, interdum totum reuocare.
For it must be known that the Lex Falcidia sometimes recalls a part of what was given, and sometimes the whole.
cum enim habita ratione aeris alieni Falcidia ineatur, plerumque euenit, ut emergente debito uel condicione aeris alieni exsistente totum quod legatum est exhauriatur.
For since the Falcidia is calculated after taking into account the outstanding debt, it often happens that, with the emergence of a debt or the fulfillment of a conditional debt, the whole of what was bequeathed is exhausted.
sed et libertatium condicio interdum exsistens efficiet legatum omnino non deberi, quippe cum habita ratione libertatium et deductis pretiis eorum tunc demum legatorum ineatur ratio.
But also the condition of manumissions, sometimes being fulfilled, will bring it about that a legacy is not owed at all, since indeed, after taking into account the manumissions and deducting their values, only then is the calculation of legacies entered into.
§35.3.1.12In quibusdam autem testamentis Falcidia quidem locum non habet, uerumtamen ita obseruatur, ut, licet quadrantem heres non retineat, tamen hactenus legata debeantur, quatenus patrimonii uires sufficiunt, utique deducto aere alieno, item deductis pretiis eorum, qui libertatem in testamento uel directam uel fideicommissariam acceperunt.
In certain testaments, however, the Falcidia indeed does not apply, but nevertheless it is observed that, although the heir does not retain a quarter, yet the legacies are owed only so far as the assets of the estate suffice, after deducting outstanding debt, and also deducting the values of those who received freedom in the testament, whether direct or through trust-bequest.
§35.3.1.13Sed et legatario cauendum est, a quo fideicommissum relinquitur.
But security must also be given by a legatee from whom a trust-bequest is left.
§35.3.1.14Interdum non legis Falcidiae, sed etiam alterius legis in hac stipulatione ratio facienda est, ut puta si patronus ex asse heres institutus sit et pure quincunx legatus sit et sub condicione aliquid supra debitam patrono partem: nam in hunc casum ratio facienda est illius legis, quae patronos uocat, non legis Falcidiae.
Sometimes, not of the Lex Falcidia, but even of another law, account must be made in this stipulation; as, for example, if a patron is instituted heir to the whole estate, and five-twelfths is bequeathed unconditionally, and something above the share due to the patron is bequeathed under condition: for in this case account must be made of that law which calls patrons, not of the Lex Falcidia.
§35.3.1.15Si res, quae legata sit, apud legatarium interierit, probandum est exceptione succurri ei qui promisit,
If the thing which was bequeathed has perished in the hands of the legatee, it must be approved that the promisor is assisted by an exception,