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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §38.16.6.pr

Exclusion of Grandson Conceived after Grandfather's Death

Passage 6074 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

In a case where Titius disinherited his son and appointed a conditional heir, it is determined that a grandson conceived after his grandfather's death cannot succeed him, as the Law of the Twelve Tables only calls those already in existence at the time of the deceased's death.

[IULIANUS libro quinquagensimo nono digestorum. ]
[JULIANUS, from the fifty-ninth book of the Digests.] Titius, having disinherited his son, appointed an outsider as heir under a condition.
§38.16.6.prTitius exheredato filio extraneum heredem sub condicione instituit: quaesitum est, si post mortem patris pendente condicione filius uxorem duxisset et filium procreasset et decessisset, deinde condicio instituti heredis defecisset, an ad hunc postumum nepotem legitima hereditas aui pertineret.
The question was raised whether, if after the father's death, while the condition was pending, the son had married, begotten a son, and died, and then the condition of the appointed heir had failed, the statutory inheritance of the grandfather would belong to this posthumous grandson.
respondit: qui post mortem aui sui concipitur, is neque legitimam hereditatem eius tamquam suus heres neque bonorum possessionem tamquam cognatus accipere potest, quia lex duodecim tabularum eum uocat ad hereditatem, qui moriente eo, de cuius bonis quaeritur, in rerum natura fuerit,
He replied: he who is conceived after the death of his grandfather can neither receive his statutory inheritance as a self-successor nor the possession of goods as a cognate, because the Law of the Twelve Tables calls to the inheritance him who, at the time of the death of the person whose property is in question, was in existence,

Notes

  1. §38.16.6.prde cuius bonis quaeritur — The antecedent of the relative pronoun 'cuius' is 'eo' (from the ablative absolute 'moriente eo'). The phrase 'de cuius bonis quaeritur' is a legal formula meaning 'the person whose estate is in question' (i.e., the deceased). 'Quaeritur' is a passive verb used impersonally.
  2. §38.16.6.prin rerum natura fuerit — The verb 'fuerit' is in the future perfect tense, functioning as the predicate in the relative clause 'qui...'. The idiom 'in rerum natura esse' (literally 'to be in the nature of things') means 'to exist in reality' or 'to be alive/conceived' at the critical moment of the opening of the succession.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §38.16.6.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:38.16.6.pr

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