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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §42.8.17.pr-42.8.17.2

Presumption of Fraud in Full Alienation and Premature Dowry

Passage 7019 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Discusses the application of the Actio Pauliana, addressing the presumption of fraudulent intent when a debtor alienates his entire property, and fraud in respect of time when a husband returns a dowry before the appointed time.

[IULIANUS libro quadragensimo nono digestorum. ] §42.8.17.prOmnes debitores, qui in fraudem creditorum liberantur, per hanc actionem reuocantur in pristinam obligationem.
[JULIANUS in the forty-ninth book of the Digests.] All debtors who are released in fraud of creditors are restored to their former obligation by this action.
§42.8.17.1Lucius Titius cum haberet creditores, libertis suis isdemque filiis naturalibus uniuersas res suas tradidit.
Lucius Titius, while having creditors, transferred his entire property to his freedmen who were also his natural sons.
respondit: quamuis non proponatur consilium fraudandi habuisse, tamen qui creditores habere se scit et uniuersa bona sua alienauit, intellegendus est fraudandorum creditorum consilium habuisse: ideoque et si filii eius ignorauerunt hanc mentem patris sui fuisse, hac actione tenentur.
He answered: although it is not propounded that he had the intention of defrauding, nevertheless he who knows that he has creditors and has alienated his entire property must be understood to have had the intention of defrauding his creditors; and therefore, even if his sons were ignorant that this was the mind of their father, they are held liable by this action.
§42.8.17.2Si uir uxori, cum creditores suos fraudare uellet, soluto matrimonio praesentem dotem reddidisset, quam statuto tempore reddere debuit, hac actione mulier tantum praestabit, quanti creditorum intererat dotem suo tempore reddi: nam praetor fraudem etiam in tempore fieri intellegit.
If a husband, wishing to defraud his creditors, upon the dissolution of the marriage, had returned the dowry immediately, which he ought to have returned at the appointed time, by this action the woman shall make good only so much as it was of interest to the creditors that the dowry should be returned at its proper time; for the praetor understands that fraud is committed also in respect of time.

Notes

  1. 42.8.17.1intellegendus est — A personal construction of the gerundive (future passive participle) with the relative clause 'qui... alienauit' as its subject, expressing objective necessity or inevitable conclusion ('must be understood to...'). The infinitive phrase 'fraudandorum creditorum consilium habuisse' serves as its complement.
  2. 42.8.17.2quanti creditorum intererat — The impersonal verb 'intererat' takes the genitive of the person concerned ('creditorum'), the genitive of value/degree ('quanti'), and an accusative with infinitive ('dotem suo tempore reddi') acting as the subject, meaning 'how much it was of importance to the creditors that the dowry should be returned at its proper time'.
  3. 42.8.17.2praesentem dotem — The adjective 'praesens' here does not mean 'present' but 'immediate' or 'on the spot' regarding payment. This is contrasted with 'quam statuto tempore reddere debuit' (which he ought to have returned at the appointed time), indicating that the husband returned the whole dowry immediately, waiving the legal postponement or installment period.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §42.8.17.pr-42.8.17.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:42.8.17.pr-42.8.17.2

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