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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §39.6.17.pr

Rescission of Mortis Causa Gifts by Insolvent Debtors

Passage 6267 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It is argued that if a debtor is insolvent, even without any intention to defraud creditors, a donation mortis causa must be rescinded just like a legacy, since it shares the same status as a legacy.

[IDEM libro quadragensimo septimo digestorum. ] §39.6.17.prEtsi debitor consilium creditorum fraudandorum non habuisset, auelli res mortis causa ab eo donata debet.
[THE SAME, from the forty-seventh book of the Digests.] Even if a debtor did not have the intention of defrauding his creditors, property donated by him mortis causa must be recovered.
nam cum legata ex testamento eius, qui soluendo non fuit, omnimodo inutilia sint, possunt uideri etiam donationes mortis causa factae rescindi debere, quia legatorum instar optinent.
For since legacies under the testament of a person who was insolvent are in every way of no effect, it can be seen that donations made mortis causa also ought to be rescinded, because they hold the position of legacies.

Notes

  1. §39.6.17.prcreditorum fraudandorum — A gerundive construction where the gerundive agrees with the objective noun in gender, number, and case (genitive plural masculine). The whole phrase modifies consilium to mean 'the intention of defrauding creditors.'
  2. §39.6.17.prsoluendo non fuit — soluendo is the dative of the gerundive of solvere (dative of purpose or fitness). The idiom soluendo esse means 'to be solvent', used here in the past tense fuit with a negative to mean 'was insolvent'.
  3. §39.6.17.prlegatorum instar optinent — instar is an indeclinable noun governing the genitive (here legatorum), meaning 'the likeness' or 'equivalent'. Combined with optinent (obtinent), it means 'they hold the status of legacies'.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §39.6.17.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:39.6.17.pr

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