Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §39.6.23.pr

Gifts Mortis Causa to a Son under Paternal Power

Passage 6273 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This text discusses a donation mortis causa made to a filius familias, explaining that whether the return of the property is triggered by the death of the son or the father depends on whether the donor's intent was to benefit the son personally or the father through the son's mediation.

[IDEM libro secundo quaestionum. ] §39.6.23.prSi filio familias mortis causa donatum sit et uiuo donatore moriatur filius, pater uiuat, quaesitum est, quid iuris sit.
[THE SAME, from the second book of Questions.] If a donation mortis causa was made to a filius familias, and the son dies while the donor is still living, and the father survives, the question has been raised as to what the law is.
respondit morte filii condictionem competere, si modo ipsi potius filio quam patri donaturus dederit: alioquin, si quasi ministerio eius pater usus sit, ipsius patris mortem spectandam esse.
He answered that on the death of the son a condictio is competent, provided that the donor gave intending to benefit the son himself rather than the father; otherwise, if the father made use, as it were, of his agency, the death of the father himself must be considered.
idque iuris fore et si de persona serui quaeratur.
And the same law would apply even if the question arose concerning the person of a slave.

Notes

  1. §39.6.23.prdonaturus dederit — The future active participle `donaturus` is used substantively as the subject of the conditional clause, meaning "the one intending to make a donation." Coupled with the contrastive phrase `ipsi potius filio quam patri`, it indicates that the subjective intent of the donor is key to determining the legal effect.
  2. §39.6.23.prministerio — An ablative serving as the complement of the deponent verb `utor` (here in the subjunctive pluperfect `usus sit`). It expresses that the son acted merely as an "agency" or instrument for the father's acquisition.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §39.6.23.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:39.6.23.pr

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.