[PAULUS libro sexto ad legem Iuliam et Papiam. ] §39.6.35.prSenatus censuit placere mortis causa donationes factas in eos, quos lex prohibet capere, in eadem causa haberi, in qua essent, quae testamento his legata essent, quibus capere per legem non liceret.
[PAULUS, On the Lex Iulia et Papia, book 6.] The senate resolved that it is appropriate for donations mortis causa made to those whom the law forbids to take, to be held in the same status as those things bequeathed by testament to persons who are not permitted by law to take.
ex hoc senatus consulto multae uariaeque quaestiones agitantur, de quibus pauca referamus.
From this senatusconsultum many various questions are discussed, of which we shall report a few.
§39.6.35.1Donatio dicta est a dono quasi dono datum, repta a Graeco: nam hi dicunt δῶρον καὶ δωρεῖσθαι.
Donation (donatio) is named from gift (donum), as if given as a gift (dono datum), derived from the Greek; for they say δῶρον and δωρεῖσθαι.
§39.6.35.2Sed mortis causa donatio longe differt ab illa uera et absoluta donatione, quae ita proficiscitur, ut nullo casu reuocetur.
But a donation mortis causa differs greatly from that true and absolute donation, which proceeds in such a way that it is not revoked in any case.
et ibi qui donat illum potius quam se habere mauult: at is, qui mortis causa donat, se cogitat atque amore uitae recepisse potius quam dedisse mauult: et hoc est, quare uulgo dicatur: 'se potius habere uult, quam eum cui donat, illum deinde potius quam heredem suum'. §39.6.35.3Ergo qui mortis causa donat, qua parte se cogitat, negotium gerit, scilicet ut, cum conualuerit, reddatur sibi: nec dubitauerunt Cassiani, quin condictione repeti possit quasi re non secuta propter hanc rationem, quod ea quae dantur aut ita dantur, ut aliquid facias, aut ut ego aliquid faciam, aut ut Lucius Titius, aut ut aliquid optingat, et in istis condictio sequitur.
In the latter, the donor prefers that the recipient should have the property rather than himself; but he who makes a donation mortis causa thinks of himself, and out of love for life prefers to have recovered it rather than to have given it. And this is the reason why it is commonly said: "he wishes to have it himself rather than him to whom he gives it, and then him rather than his own heir." Therefore, he who makes a donation mortis causa, in so far as he thinks of himself, transacts business, namely so that, when he recovers, it may be returned to him. Nor did the Cassians doubt that it can be recovered by a condictio as if the purpose had not been realized, for this reason: because things which are given are given either so that you may do something, or so that I may do something, or so that Lucius Titius may, or so that something may happen, and in these cases a condictio follows.
§39.6.35.4Mortis causa donatio fit multis modis: alias extra suspicionem ullius periculi a sano et in bona ualetudine posito et cui ex humana sorte mortis cogitatio est: alias ex metu mortis aut ex praesenti periculo aut ex futuro, si quidem terra marique, tam in pace quam in bello et tam domi quam militiae multis generibus mortis periculum metui potest.
A donation mortis causa is made in many ways: at one time without suspicion of any danger, by a healthy person who is in good health and who contemplates death out of human lot; at another time from fear of death, either from present danger or from future danger, since indeed on land and sea, in peace as in war, and at home as in military service, danger of death can be feared in many forms.
nam et sic potest donari, ut omnimodo ex ea ualitudine donatore mortuo res non reddatur, et ut reddatur, etiamsi prior ex eadem ualetudine decesserit, si tamen mutata uoluntate restitui sibi uoluerit. et sic donari potest, ut non aliter reddatur, quam si prior ille qui accepit decesserit.
For it can be given in such a way that, if the donor dies of that illness, the property is under no circumstances returned; and that it is returned even if the donor dies first of the same illness, if, however, having changed his mind, he wished it to be restored to him; and it can be given in such a way that it is not returned unless the recipient who received it dies first.
sic quoque potest donari mortis causa, ut nullo casu sit repetitio, id est ne si conualuerit quidem donator.
It can also be given mortis causa in such a way that in no case is there a recovery, that is, not even if the donor recovers.
§39.6.35.5Si quis societatem per donationem mortis causa inierit, dicendum est nullam societatem esse.
If anyone should enter into a partnership by means of a donation mortis causa, it must be said that there is no partnership.
§39.6.35.6Si duobus debitoribus mortis causa donaturus creditor uni acceptum tulit et conualuerit, eligere potest, utri eorum condicat.
If a creditor, intending to make a donation mortis causa to two debtors, has given a release to one of them, and then recovers, he can choose which of them he will sue by a condictio.
§39.6.35.7Sed qui mortis causa in annos singulos pecuniam stipulatus est, non est similis ei, cui in annos singulos legatum est: nam licet multa essent legata, stipulatio tamen una est et condicio eius cui expromissum est semel intuenda est.
But he who has stipulated for money each year mortis causa is not like him to whom a legacy each year has been bequeathed; for although the legacies may be many, yet the stipulation is one, and the condition of the person to whom the promise was made must be considered once.