[MODESTINUS libro secundo de poenis. ] §48.2.20.prEx iudiciorum publicorum admissis non alias transeunt aduersus heredes poenae bonorum ademptionis, quam si lis contestata et condemnatio fuerit secuta, excepto repetundarum et maiestatis iudicio, quae etiam mortuis reis, cum quibus nihil actum est, adhuc exerceri placuit, ut bona eorum fisco uindicentur: adeo ut diuus Seuerus et Antoninus rescripserint, ex quo quis aliquod ex his causis crimen contraxit, nihil ex bonis suis alienare aut manumittere eum posse.
[MODESTINUS, On Punishments, Book 2] In the case of offenses of public prosecutions, the penalties of confiscation of property do not pass against the heirs under any other condition than if joinder of issue (lis contestata) has taken place and a conviction has followed, with the exception of trials for extortion (repetundae) and treason (maiestas), which it has been decided may still be prosecuted even if the defendants are dead, although no action had been taken against them, so that their property may be claimed for the treasury. This went so far that the Divine Severus and Antoninus replied by rescript that, from the moment anyone commits any crime of this nature, he cannot alienate any of his property or manumit any slave.
ex ceteris uero delictis poena incipere ab herede ita demum potest, si uiuo reo accusatio mota est, licet non fuit condemnatio secuta.
But in the case of other delicts, a penalty can only begin against the heir if the accusation was initiated during the lifetime of the defendant, even though a conviction had not followed.