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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §37.9.6.pr

Conditions for Estate Possession for an Extraneous Posthumous Child

Passage 5811 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Explains that when a stranger postumus is instituted as heir, the possession of the estate is granted on behalf of the unborn child only if the mother cannot support herself, ensuring that maintenance is not denied to the future possessor.

[ULPIANUS libro quadragensimo primo ad edictum. ] §37.9.6.prExtranco postumo herede instituto non aliter uenter in possessionem mittitur, nisi mater aliunde se alere non possit, ne forte ei, qui natus bonorum possessor futurus est, denegasse alimenta uideamur.
[ULPIANUS on the Edict, book 41] When a postumus extraneus has been instituted as heir, the womb is not otherwise put into possession, unless the mother cannot support herself from elsewhere, lest we might perhaps seem to have denied maintenance to him who, upon birth, is to be the possessor of the goods.

Notes

  1. §37.9.6.prExtraneo postumo herede instituto — An ablative absolute construction consisting of the noun phrase 'extraneo postumo' (stranger postumus), the predicative 'herede', and the perfect participle 'instituto'. It expresses the conditional premise: 'when a stranger postumus has been instituted as heir'.
  2. §37.9.6.prdenegasse alimenta uideamur — The form 'denegasse' is a syncopated perfect infinitive for 'denegavisse'. 'uideamur' (first-person plural present subjunctive of 'uideri') expresses negative purpose in the 'ne'-clause, taking 'we' (the jurists or the praetor) as the subject, meaning 'lest we should seem to have denied'.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §37.9.6.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:37.9.6.pr

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