Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §41.3.42.pr

Validation of Sale of Dotal Land Upon Husband's Succession

Passage 6794 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Papinianus states that if a husband sells a dotal estate and the wife subsequently dies during the marriage with the dowry profiting the husband, the sale is validated, drawing an analogy to a seller of a stolen item who later becomes the owner's heir.

[PAPINIANUS libro tertio quaestionum. ] §41.3.42.prCum uir praedium dotale uendidit scienti uel ignoranti rem dotis esse, uenditio non ualet.
[PAPINIANUS, Questions, book 3] When a husband has sold a dotal estate to a person who either knew or did not know that the property was dotal, the sale is not valid.
quam defuncta postea muliere in matrimonio confirmari conuenit, si tota dos lucro mariti cessit.
However, it is agreed that this sale is validated if the wife subsequently dies during the marriage, provided that the entire dowry falls to the profit of the husband.
idem iuris est, cum is, qui rem furtiuam uendidit, postea domino heres exstitit.
The same rule of law applies when a person who has sold a stolen thing subsequently becomes the heir to its owner.

Notes

  1. §41.3.42.prscienti uel ignoranti — Datives functioning as the indirect object of the verb uendidit. The accusative and infinitive clause "rem dotis esse" depends on both participles.
  2. §41.3.42.prdefuncta postea muliere in matrimonio — Ablative absolute. The phrase "in matrimonio" (during the marriage) modifies the participle "defuncta" to indicate that the wife's death occurred before the dissolution of the marriage.
  3. §41.3.42.prquam ... confirmari conuenit — The relative pronoun "quam" is used in relative connection referring back to the "uenditio" (sale) of the previous sentence, and acts as the subject of the passive infinitive "confirmari" dependent on the impersonal verb "conuenit" (it is agreed/fitting).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §41.3.42.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:41.3.42.pr

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