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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §39.6.20.pr

Proportional Payment under a Conditional Partial Legacy

Passage 6270 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It is argued that when a tract of land is bequeathed to a legatee who can only legally take a portion of it, under the condition of paying a sum to the heir, the amount to be paid must be reduced proportionally to the share of the land they actually receive.

[IDEM libro primo ad Urseium Ferocem. ] §39.6.20.prEi, qui non amplius parte capere poterat, legatus est fundus, si decem dedisset heredi: non totam summam is dare debet, ut partem fundi haberet, sed partem dumtaxat pro rata, qua legatum consequitur.
[THE SAME, from the first book on Urseius Ferox.] To a person who could not take more than a certain share, a tract of land was bequeathed under the condition that he should give ten to the heir: he is not obliged to pay the whole sum in order to have his share of the land, but only a portion in proportion to the rate at which he obtains the legacy.

Notes

  1. §39.6.20.prnon amplius parte — The ablative parte is an ablative of comparison, equivalent to non amplius quam parte (not more than a share). This refers to a person who, due to legal restrictions (such as the Lex Falcidia), is legally incapable of taking (capere) more than a specific portion of the bequest.
  2. §39.6.20.prsi decem dedisset — The pluperfect subjunctive dedisset represents a future perfect action from a past perspective within a conditional clause (i.e., paying the sum after the testament takes effect).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §39.6.20.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:39.6.20.pr

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