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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §37.2.1.pr

Erased Heir Names and Lost Wills in Estate Possession

Passage 5726 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This text discusses whether an heir whose name has been accidentally erased can be granted possession of goods, and the effect of the timing of the testament's destruction on that right.

[PAULUS libro tertio ad Sabinum. ] §37.2.1.prHeredi, cuius nomen inconsulto ita deletum sit, ut penitus legi non possit, dari bonorum possessio minime potest, quia ex coniectura non proprie scriptus uideretur, quamuis, si post prolatas tabulas deletum sit testamentum, bonorum possessio competat.
[PAULUS, book 3 on Sabinus.] To an heir whose name has been so erased without intention that it cannot be read at all, possession of goods can by no means be given, because he would seem to have been written from conjecture and not properly; although, if the testament has been erased after the tablets were produced, possession of goods is competent.
nam et si mortis tempore tabulae fuerint, licet postea interierint, competet bonorum possessio, quia uerum fuit tabulas exstare.
For even if the tablets existed at the time of death, although they have perished afterwards, possession of goods will be competent, because it was true that the tablets existed.

Notes

  1. §37.2.1.princonsulto — An adverb meaning "unintentionally" or "acciditally". It indicates that the erasure of the heir's name was an accidental occurrence, rather than an intentional disinheriting (exheredatio) or revocation of the will by the testator.
  2. §37.2.1.pruideretur — Although the main verb is in the present tense (potest), the imperfect subjunctive is used here. This implies a past potential or counterfactual perspective: "as he would have seemed at the time to have been written from conjecture (rather than properly)."
  3. §37.2.1.prpost prolatas tabulas — A construction where the preposition post is followed by the accusative noun tabulas and its perfect passive participle prolatas acting attributively (the so-called ab urbe condita construction), translating to "after the tablets were produced."

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §37.2.1.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:37.2.1.pr

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