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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §36.1.38.pr-36.1.38.2

Methods of Restitution and Requirements for Wards

Passage 5591 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This fragment discusses the validity of tacit and express methods of restoring an inheritance, including actions through agents, and the specific rules and requirements regarding tutor's authority when a ward is involved.

[ULPIANUS libro sexto decimo ad edictum. ] §36.1.38.prRestituta hereditas uidetur aut re ipsa, si forte passus est heres possideri res hereditarias uel totas uel aliquas earum hac mente, ut uellet restitueret ille suscipere, non si ex alia causa putauit te possidere.
[ULPIANUS, On the Edict, Book XVI] An inheritance is deemed to have been restored even by the fact itself, if by chance the heir has permitted the inheritance property, either in whole or in part, to be possessed with this intention: that he wished to restore it and the other wished to receive it; it is otherwise if he thought you possessed it for some other reason.
sed et si postea ratum habuit, idem erit dicendum.
But even if he subsequently ratified it, the same must be said.
sed et si uerbo dixit se restituere, per epistulam uel per nuntium restituat, audietur.
Furthermore, if he declared in words that he was restoring it, or if he restores it by letter or by messenger, he shall be heard.
sed et si uoluntate tua alii restituerit, in te transibunt actiones.
Also, if he has restored it to another person in accordance with your will, the actions will pass to you.
item si alius iussu meo restituit uel ratam habui restitutionem, transisse actiones uidentur.
Likewise, if another person has restored it by my order, or if I have ratified the restoration, the actions are deemed to have passed.
§36.1.38.1Pupillus autem ipse debet restituere tutore auctore, non tutor sine pupillo, nisi infans est, quia nec mandare actiones tutor pupilli sui potest.
A ward, moreover, must himself restore with the authority of his tutor, and the tutor cannot do so without the ward, unless the ward is an infant, because a tutor cannot even delegate the actions of his ward.
ne se quidem auctore pupillum restituere potuisse hereditatem diuus Scuerus in persona Arri Honorati pupilli decreuit, qui Arrio Antonino patruo et tutori suo restituerat.
The Divine Severus, in the case of the ward Arrius Honoratus, who had restored the inheritance to his paternal uncle and tutor Arrius Antoninus, decreed that a ward could not restore an inheritance even with the authority of that tutor himself.
§36.1.38.2Sed et si pupillo sit restituenda, non posse pupillo sine tutoris auctoritate restitui constat:
But also, if the inheritance is to be restored to a ward, it is established that it cannot be restored to the ward without the authority of the tutor:

Notes

  1. 36.1.38.prut uellet restitueret ille suscipere — This passage is widely suspected of corruption; it is commonly emended by reading the subjunctive 'restitueret' as the infinitive 'restituere' and understanding it as 'ut uellet [heres] restituere, [et] ille [fideicommissarius] suscipere' ('so that the heir wished to restore, and the beneficiary wished to receive').
  2. 36.1.38.praudietur — Literally 'he will be heard'. In Roman legal terminology, this indicates that the person's declaration or method of restoration is legally 'recognized' or 'admitted' as valid.
  3. 36.1.38.1ne se quidem auctore — The pronoun 'se' refers to the tutor Arrius Antoninus himself. Since a tutor cannot authorize (auctoritas) a ward's transaction in which the tutor himself has a personal interest (in this case, receiving the inheritance), the restoration was decreed invalid despite his own authorization due to conflict of interest.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §36.1.38.pr-36.1.38.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:36.1.38.pr-36.1.38.2

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