Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §46.3.81.pr-46.3.81.1

Payment to Designated Person's Heir and Deposit Return

Passage 7736 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The text discusses the inability to pay the heir of a designated payment recipient if that recipient dies, and the legal procedures and liability of a depositary when returning a deposited object to some of the multiple heirs after the depositor's death.

[IDEM libro sexto ad Quintum Mucium. ] §46.3.81.prSi stipulatus sim mihi aut Titio dari, si Titius decesserit, heredi eius soluere non poteris.
[THE SAME, in the sixth book on Quintus Mucius.] If I have stipulated that a thing be given to me or to Titius, if Titius has died, you will not be able to pay it to his heir.
§46.3.81.1Si lancem deposuerit apud me Titius et pluribus heredibus relictis decesserit: si pars heredum me interpellet, optimum quidem esse, si praetor aditus iussisset me parti heredum eam lancem tradere, quo casu depositi me reliquis coheredibus non teneri.
If Titius has deposited a platter with me and has died leaving several heirs: if a part of the heirs makes a demand on me, it is indeed best if the praetor, having been approached, should order me to deliver that platter to that part of the heirs, in which case I am not liable to the remaining co-heirs on the deposit.
sed et si sine praetore sine dolo malo hoc fecero, liberabor aut (quod uerius est) non incidam in obligationem.
But even if I do this without the praetor, provided it is without malicious intent, I shall be released, or (what is more correct) I shall not incur any liability.
optimum autem est id per magistratum facere.
It is best, however, to do this through a magistrate.

Notes

  1. §46.3.81.prsi stipulatus sim mihi aut Titio dari — This shows the rule that in a stipulation where a third party (Titius) is added as a designated recipient of payment (solutionis causa adiectus), if that party dies, the authority to receive payment does not pass to his heir. 'Stipulatus sim' is in the subjunctive, and the impersonal 'dari' is an infinitive.
  2. §46.3.81.1optimum quidem esse — An infinitive phrase in indirect speech (oratio obliqua) where the main governing verb is omitted, representing an opinion cited from Mucius or Pomponius's own view ('it is thought that...').
  3. §46.3.81.1depositi — A genitive modifying 'teneri' (to be liable). It is a genitive of relation or cause, derived from 'depositum' (deposit) or 'actio depositi' (action on deposit), meaning 'on account of the deposit' or 'under the action of deposit'.
  4. §46.3.81.1non incidam in obligationem — 'Incidam' is in the future indicative (or present subjunctive). The phrase explains the legal security of the depositary: even without a praetor's order, if they acted without malice (sine dolo malo), they are either released from the deposit action or, more accurately, do not fall into any new liability toward the other co-heirs.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §46.3.81.pr-46.3.81.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:46.3.81.pr-46.3.81.1

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.