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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §42.8.23.pr

Conditional Acceptance of an Insolvent Estate and Legacies

Passage 7025 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Explains the conditions under which testamentary manumissions and legacies are valid when the heirs accept an insolvent estate under the condition of paying only a portion of the debts.

[IDEM libro trigensimo secundo digestorum. ] §42.8.23.prPrimo gradu scripti heredes cum animaduerterent bona defuncti uix ad quartam partem aeris alieni sufficere, famae defuncti conseruandae gratia ex consensu creditorum auctoritate praesidis prouinciae secundum constitutionem ea condicione adierunt hereditatem, ut creditoribus dumtaxat partem praestarent: quaesitum est, an manumissi testamento et libertates et alimenta consequi possint.
[THE SAME in the thirty-second book of the Digests.] When the heirs appointed in the first degree perceived that the property of the deceased was scarcely sufficient for a fourth part of the debts, for the sake of preserving the reputation of the deceased, with the consent of the creditors and by the authority of the governor of the province, in accordance with the constitution, they entered upon the inheritance under the condition that they should pay only a part to the creditors. It was asked whether those manumitted by the testament could obtain both their freedom and maintenance.
respondit libertates quidem, si in fraudem creditorum datae non essent, competere, legata uero, si soluendo hereditas non esset, non deberi.
He replied that freedom indeed, if it had not been given to the defraud of creditors, was competent, but legacies, if the inheritance was not solvent, were not due.

Notes

  1. 42.8.23.prfamae defuncti conseruandae gratia — The gerundive (conseruandae) agrees in gender, number, and case with the noun it modifies (famae), and together with gratia expresses purpose ('for the sake of preserving'). defuncti is a genitive modifying famae.
  2. 42.8.23.prea condicione ... ut ... praestarent — The demonstrative ea and the ut-clause (with the imperfect subjunctive praestarent) are in apposition, meaning 'under the condition that...'.
  3. 42.8.23.prsoluendo — The dative of the gerundive of solvere. When combined with esse, it forms the idiomatic expression 'soluendo esse', meaning 'to be solvent' or 'to be able to pay'.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §42.8.23.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:42.8.23.pr

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