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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §39.6.27.pr

Irrevocable Gifts Mortis Causa Treated as Inter Vivos

Passage 6277 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section explains that an irrevocable donation mortis causa is treated as a donation inter vivos, making it invalid between husbands and wives and exempt from the Falcidian law.

[IDEM libro quinto regularum. ] §39.6.27.prUbi ita donatur mortis causa, ut nullo casu reuocetur, causa donandi magis est quam mortis causa donatio: et ideo perinde haberi debet atque alia quaeuis inter uiuos donatio.
[THE SAME, from the fifth book of Rules.] Where a donation mortis causa is made in such a way that it cannot be revoked under any circumstances, it is rather a reason for giving than a donation mortis causa; and therefore it ought to be treated just as any other donation inter vivos.
ideoque inter uiros et uxores non ualet et ideo nec Falcidia locum habet quasi in mortis causa donatione.
Consequently, it is not valid between husbands and wives, and therefore the Falcidian law has no application as it would in a donation mortis causa.

Notes

  1. §39.6.27.prcausa donandi — Genitive of the gerund donandum. Literally "cause of giving," it refers to the motive or basis for an ordinary donation inter vivos (between the living). Since revocability during the donor's lifetime is an essential feature of a donation mortis causa, a gift that cannot be revoked under any circumstances is legally reclassified as a regular gift inter vivos.
  2. §39.6.27.prFalcidia — Refers to the Falcidian Law (lex Falcidia), which secured for the heir at least one-fourth of the estate (the "Falcidian portion") by limiting the total amount of legacies and donations mortis causa to three-fourths of the estate. Since the transaction is treated as a donation inter vivos here, this limitation does not apply.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §39.6.27.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:39.6.27.pr

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