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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §50.16.122.pr

Scope of Appointing Guardians for a Son and Sons

Passage 8936 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Regarding the appointment of guardians for "a son and sons" in a will, the author argues that, contrary to Servius's strict interpretation limiting it to males, it is more reasonable to interpret it as a provision for all children.

[IDEM libro octauo ad Quintum Mucium. ] §50.16.122.prSeruius ait, si ita scriptum sit: 'filio filiisque meis hosce tutores do', masculis dumtaxat tutores datos, quoniam a singulari casu hoc 'filio' ad pluralem uidetur transisse continentem eundem sexum, quem singularis prior positus habuisset.
[THE SAME, in the eighth book on Quintus Mucius.] Servius says that if it is written thus: "I give these guardians to my son and my sons," guardians are given only to the males, because this word "to the son" in the singular case seems to have passed to a plural that contains the same sex which the preceding singular, having been placed first, would have had.
sed hoc facti, non iuris habet quaestionem: potest enim fieri, ut singulari casu de filio senserit, deinde plenius omnibus liberis prospexisse in tutore dando uoluerit.
But this is a question of fact, not of law; for it can happen that in the singular case he had the son in mind, and then, in appointing a guardian, wished to provide more fully for all his children.
quod magis rationabile esse uidetur.
And this indeed seems to be more reasonable.

Notes

  1. §50.16.122.prmasculis dumtaxat tutores datos — This is an accusative with infinitive (A.c.I.) construction with the copula esse omitted after datos, depending on the main verb Seruius ait.
  2. §50.16.122.prfacti, non iuris — Genitives of quality or relation, meaning "a question of fact (the testator's intention), not a question of law (objective legal rules)."
  3. §50.16.122.prin tutore dando — A gerundive construction in agreement with the noun tutore under the preposition in, meaning "in appointing a guardian."

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §50.16.122.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:50.16.122.pr

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