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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §41.1.34.pr

Inheritance as Representing the Person of the Deceased

Passage 6664 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It explains that the inheritance represents the person of the deceased, not of the heir, as is proven by many arguments of the civil law.

[IDEM libro quarto de censibus. ] §41.1.34.prHereditas enim non heredis personam, sed defuncti sustinet, ut multis argumentis iuris ciuilis comprobatum est.
[THE SAME, On Censuses, book 4] For an inheritance sustains not the person of the heir, but of the deceased, as has been proved by many arguments of the civil law.

Notes

  1. §41.1.34.prpersonam ... sustinet — The verb `sustinere` (literally 'to support' or 'to play a role') is used here in the sense of 'to represent' or 'to sustain' the person (`personam`). This expresses the famous Roman law principle that the inheritance fictionally represents the legal personality of the deceased.
  2. §41.1.34.prdefuncti — Ellipsis of the noun `personam`. In the parallel structure `non heredis personam, sed defuncti [personam]`, the second `personam` is omitted. `defuncti` is the genitive singular of the substantivized participle `defunctus` (the deceased).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §41.1.34.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:41.1.34.pr

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