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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §38.15.1.pr-38.15.1.2

Classes in Intestate Possession and Rights of Emancipated Children

Passage 6064 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Modestinus defines the classes called for intestate succession, explains the granting of intestate possession when no one accepts according to or against a testament, and states that children of an intestate father receive possession whether they remained under his power or were emancipated.

[MODESTINUS libro sexto pandectarum. ] §38.15.1.prIntestati hi gradus uocantur: primum sui heredes, secundo legitimi, tertio proximi cognati, deinde uir et uxor.
[MODESTINUS, from the sixth book of the Pandects.] In the case of an intestate, these degrees are called: first, the self-successors; second, the statutory heirs; third, the nearest cognates; and then, husband and wife.
§38.15.1.1Siue tabulae testamenti non exstent, siue exstent, si secundum eas uel contra eas bonorum possessionem nemo accepit, intestati detur bonorum possessio.
Whether testaments do not exist or do exist, if no one has accepted the possession of goods in accordance with them or against them, the possession of goods of an intestate is granted.
§38.15.1.2Intestati patris liberis bonorum possessio datur non tantum his, qui in potestatem parentis usque in mortis tempus fuerunt, sed emancipatis.
To the children of an intestate father, the possession of goods is granted not only to those who were under the power of the parent up to the time of death, but also to those who have been emancipated.

Notes

  1. §38.15.1.prIntestati — Substantive use of the adjective (or genitive singular of intestatus, 'intestate person'). Here it functions as 'in the case of an intestate [succession]', setting the condition for the following order of succession such as sui heredes.
  2. §38.15.1.2in potestatem — According to classical Latin norms, the ablative (in potestate) is expected to express a state of being under someone's power. The use of the accusative potestatem here either implies the continuation of having entered under that power, or reflects the blurring of accusative and ablative functions common in late and juristic Latin.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §38.15.1.pr-38.15.1.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:38.15.1.pr-38.15.1.2

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