Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §41.3.22.pr

Identity of Person Between the Heir and Inheritance

Passage 6774 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It presents the legal principle that although the heir and the inheritance have different names, they function in law as a single person.

[IDEM libro septimo epistularum. ] §41.3.22.prHeres et hereditas tametsi duas appellationes recipiunt, unius personae tamen uice funguntur.

[THE SAME, Letters, book 7] Although the heir and the inheritance receive two names, they nevertheless function in the place of a single person.

Notes

41.3.22.pruice funguntur — The verb fungor (to perform, execute) governs the ablative case, and here its complement is uice, the ablative singular of uicis (turn, stead, role). Accompanied by the genitive unius personae (of one person), the phrase means 'to function in the place of one person' or 'to perform the role of a single person'. This expresses a legal fiction in Roman law where the heir and the inheritance (especially before acceptance) are treated as representing the same legal personality.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §41.3.22.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:41.3.22.pr

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