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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §38.7.2.pr-38.7.2.4

Rejection by Sui Heredes and Scope of Intestate Possession

Passage 6026 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Ulpian discusses the legal effects when self-successors reject the possession of an estate, notes its broad applicability regardless of gender or status, and details the timing of application when the deceased's status is uncertain as well as its coverage of all intestate heirs under statutes or senatorial decrees.

[ULPIANUS libro quadragensimo sexto ad edictum. ] §38.7.2.prSi repudiauerint sui ab intestato bonorum possessionem, adhuc dicemus obstare eos legitimis, hoc est his, quibus legitima potuit deferri hereditas, idcirco, quia repudiando quasi liberi bonorum possessionem hanc incipiunt habere quasi legitimi.
[ULPIANUS in the forty-sixth book on the Edict.] If the self-successors reject the possession of the estate on intestacy, we shall still say that they stand in the way of the statutory heirs—that is, those to whom the statutory inheritance could be deferred—for this reason, because by rejecting it as if they were children, they begin to have this possession of the estate as if they were statutory heirs.
§38.7.2.1Haec autem bonorum possessio non tantum masculorum defertur, uerum etiam feminarum, nec tantum ingenuorum, uerum etiam libertinorum.
Moreover, this possession of the estate is granted not only in the case of males, but also of females; and not only of freeborn persons, but also of freedmen.
communis est igitur pluribus.
Therefore, it is common to many.
nam et feminae possunt uel consanguineos uel adgnatos habere, item libertini possunt patronos patronasque habere.
For females too can have either consanguineous or agnatic relatives, and likewise freedmen can have patrons and patronesses.
§38.7.2.2Nec tantum masculi hanc bonorum possessionem accipere possunt, uerum etiam feminae.
And not only males can receive this possession of the estate, but also females.
§38.7.2.3Si quis decesserit, de quo incertum est, utrum pater familias an filius familias sit, quia pater eius ab hostibus captus adhuc uiuat uel quod alia causa suspendebat eius statum, magis est, ne possit peti bonorum eius possessio, quia nondum intestatum eum esse apparet, cum incertum sit, an testari possit.
If anyone dies, concerning whom it is uncertain whether he was a head of household or a son in the household, because his father, having been captured by enemies, is still alive, or because some other cause was suspending his status, it is more correct to hold that the possession of his estate cannot be applied for, because it does not yet appear that he died intestate, since it is uncertain whether he could make a will.
cum igitur coeperit certi status esse, tunc demum petenda est bonorum possessio: non cum certum esse coeperit intestatum esse, sed cum certum esse coeperit patrem familias esse.
Therefore, when his status begins to be certain, only then must the possession of the estate be applied for: not when it begins to be certain that he died intestate, but when it begins to be certain that he was a head of household.
§38.7.2.4Haec autem bonorum possessio omnem uocat, qui ab intestato potuit esse heres, siue lex duodecim tabularum eum legitimum heredem faciat siue alia lex senatusue consultum.
Furthermore, this possession of the estate summons everyone who could be an heir on intestacy, whether the Law of the Twelve Tables makes him a statutory heir, or some other law or senatusconsultum.
denique mater, quae ex senatus consulto uenit Tertulliano, item qui ex Orphitiano ad legitimam hereditatem admittuntur, hanc bonorum possessionem petere possunt.
Consequently, a mother who succeeds under the Senatusconsultum Tertullianum, and likewise those who are admitted to statutory inheritance under the Orphitianum, can apply for this possession of the estate.

Notes

  1. 38.7.2.prrepudiando quasi liberi — The nominative plural adjective `liberi` (here "children/descendants") is in apposition to `sui` (the self-successors), which is the implied subject of the ablative gerund `repudiando`. It means "by rejecting [the possession] in the capacity of descendants (unde liberi)," contrasting with the following `quasi legitimi` ("as if they were statutory heirs").
  2. 38.7.2.3magis est, ne possit — The impersonal expression `magis est` followed by a `ne` clause means "it is more correct to hold that... not," indicating a stronger legal opinion or more plausible legal solution.
  3. 38.7.2.3certi status — A genitive of quality (description) functioning predicatively with the implied subject (the deceased person) of the subjunctive perfect verb `coeperit` used temporally, meaning "when [he] begins to be of a certain status."
  4. 38.7.2.4Tertulliano — An ablative adjective modifying the noun `senatus consulto` (from the adjective form of `Tertullianus`), meaning "under the Senatusconsultum Tertullianum."

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §38.7.2.pr-38.7.2.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:38.7.2.pr-38.7.2.4

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