[ULPIANUS libro uicesimo tertio ad Sabinum. ] §36.2.12.prnec semel diem eius cedere, sed per singulos annos.
[ULPIANUS in the twenty-third book on Sabinus.] and that its right does not vest once and for all, but for each individual year.
§36.2.12.1Sed utrum initio cuiusque anni an uero finito anno cedat, quaestionis fuit.
But whether it vests at the beginning of each year, or indeed when the year has ended, was a matter of question.
et Labeo Sabinus et Celsus et Cassius et Iulianus in omnibus, quae in annos singulos relinquuntur, hoc probauerunt, ut initio cuiusque anni huius legati dies cederet.
And Labeo, Sabinus, Celsus, Cassius, and Julian, in all cases of legacies left for individual years, approved this: that the right of this legacy should vest at the beginning of each year.
§36.2.12.2Inde Iulianus ait, hoc legatum si seruo relinquatur, deinde post primum uel alterum annum sit liber, sibi eum adquirere.
Hence Julian says that if this legacy is left to a slave, and then after the first or second year he becomes free, he acquires it for himself.
§36.2.12.3Item Celsus scribit, quod et Iulianus probat, huius legati diem ex die mortis cedere, non ex quo adita est hereditas, et si forte post multos annos adeatur hereditas, omnium annorum legatario deberi.
Likewise Celsus writes—which Julian also approves—that the right of this legacy vests from the day of death, not from the day the inheritance is accepted, and even if by chance the inheritance is accepted after many years, the legacy for all the years is owed to the legatee.
§36.2.12.4Sed et si quotannis sit legatum, mihi uidetur etiam in hoc initium cuiusque anni spectandum, nisi forte euidens sit uoluntas testatoris in annuas pensiones ideo diuidentis, quoniam non legatario consultum, sed heredi prospectum uoluit, ne urgueretur ad solutionem.
But even if the legacy is "annual," it seems to me that in this case too the beginning of each year must be looked at, unless by chance there is clear intention of the testator who divided it into annual installments because he wished not for the legatee to be favored, but for the heir to be protected, so that the heir would not be hard-pressed for payment.
§36.2.12.5Si in habitationem aliquid uel in disciplinam legetur sic 'annua' uel 'uotannis', quibus diebus pensio debetur habitationis uel merces disciplinarum, isdem intellegitur legatum relictum, coniectura uoluntatis facta.
If something is bequeathed for housing or for education in this manner, "annual" or "yearly," the legacy is understood to be left on those very days on which the rent for housing or the fee for education is due, a conjecture of the testator's intention having been made.
§36.2.12.6Nouissime Pomponius scribit nihil interesse, utrum 'in annos singulos' uel 'quotannis' an 'in singulos menses' uel 'quot mensibus' an 'in singulos dies' uel 'quot diebus' legetur. ipse quoque huic sententiae accedo: proinde et si 'annui' legentur tot aurei, idem erit dicendum.
Most recently, Pomponius writes that it makes no difference whether a legacy is left "for each individual year" or "annually," or "for each individual month" or "monthly," or "for each individual day" or "daily." I myself also agree with this opinion; therefore, even if so many gold pieces are bequeathed as "annual," the same must be said.
§36.2.12.7Si cui homo generaliter sit legatus et antequam uindicet, decesserit, ad heredem suum legatum transfert.
If a slave is bequeathed to someone in general terms, and he dies before he claims him, he transmits the legacy to his heir.
§36.2.12.8Si Titio sit sic legatum 'quem Seius elegerit' et Seius post electionem decesserit, locus est uindicationi semel adquisitae.
If Titius is bequeathed something in this manner, "whomever Seius chooses," and Seius dies after the election, there is room for the claim once it has been acquired.