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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §40.4.32.pr

Abstention of a Necessary Heir and Validity of Freedom

Passage 6380 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It explains that when there is a necessary heir, the grants of freedom to slaves remain valid even if the heir abstains from the inheritance, as long as it is not done in fraud of the Lex Aelia Sentia.

[ULPIANUS libro sexagensimo quinto ad edictum. ] §40.4.32.prSciendum est necessario herede existente, quamuis se abstineat, tamen libertates competere, si modo non in fraudem legis Aeliae Sentiae datae fuerint.
[ULPIANUS in the sixty-fifth book on the Edict.] It must be known that when there is a necessary heir, even though he abstains from the inheritance, nevertheless the grants of freedom take effect, provided that they have not been given in fraud of the Lex Aelia Sentia.

Notes

  1. §40.4.32.prnecessario herede existente — An ablative absolute construction consisting of a noun and a present participle. It establishes the prerequisite condition that a necessary heir exists, even if he subsequently declines to meddle with the inheritance.
  2. §40.4.32.prse abstineat — The verb `abstinere` with the reflexive pronoun `se` in a legal context refers to the heir abstaining from meddling with the inheritance (exercising the beneficium abstinendi). The present subjunctive is triggered by the concessive conjunction `quamuis`.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §40.4.32.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:40.4.32.pr

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