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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §7.1.34.pr-7.1.34.2

Alternate-Year Usufruct and Loss of Specific Things

Passage 1205 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Julian discusses rules on usufruct, explaining the effects of ownership consolidation and alienation under alternate-year bequests, the lease relation when usufruct is given to a tenant, and the difference between usufruct of all goods and that of a specific building when destroyed.

[IULIANUS libro trigensimo quinto digestorum. ] §7.1.34.prQuotiens duobus usus fructus legatur ita, ut alternis annis utantur fruantur, si quidem ita legatus fuerit 'Titio et Maeuio', potest dici priori Titio, deinde Maeuio legatum datum.
[JULIAN in the thirty-fifth book of Digests.] Whenever a usufruct is bequeathed to two persons in such a way that they use and enjoy in alternate years, if indeed it was bequeathed thus: 'To Titius and Maevius', it can be said that the bequest was given first to Titius, then to Maevius.
si uero duo eiusdem nominis fuerint et ita scriptum fuerit Titiis usum fructum alternis annis do': nisi consenserint, uter eorum prior utatur, inuicem sibi impedient.
But if there should be two of the same name and it was written thus: 'I give the usufruct to the Titiuses in alternate years', unless they agree which of them is to use it first, they will impede each other.
quod si Titius eo anno, quo frueretur, proprietatem accepisset, interim legatum non habebit, sed ad Maeuium alternis annis usus fructus pertinebit: et si Titius proprietatem alienasset, habebit eum usum fructum, quia et si sub condicione usus fructus mihi legatus fuerit et interim proprietatem ab herede accepero, pendente autem condicione eandem alienauero, ad legatum admittar.
But if Titius, in that year in which he was to enjoy, had acquired the ownership, in the meantime he will not have the bequest, but the usufruct will belong to Maevius in alternate years; and if Titius had alienated the ownership, he will have that usufruct, because even if a usufruct should be bequeathed to me under a condition, and in the meantime I shall have received the ownership from the heir, but while the condition is pending I shall have alienated the same, I shall be admitted to the bequest.
§7.1.34.1Si colono tuo usum fructum fundi legaueris, usum fructum uindicabit et cum herede tuo aget ex conducto et consequetur, ut neque mercedes praestet et impensas, quas in culturam fecerat, recipiat.
If you bequeath the usufruct of a land to your tenant, he will claim the usufruct and will bring an action on lease against your heir, and will obtain that he neither pays the rent and that he receives the expenses which he had made for cultivation.
§7.1.34.2Uniuersorum bonorum an singularum rerum usus fructus legetur, hactenus interesse puto, quod, si aedes incensae fuerint, usus fructus specialiter aedium legatus peti non potest, bonorum autem usu fructu legato areae usus fructus peti poterit: quoniam qui bonorum suorum usum fructum legat, non solum eorum, quae in specie sunt, sed et substantiae omnis usum fructum legare uidetur: in substantia autem bonorum etiam area est.
Whether the usufruct of the whole of the goods or of individual things is bequeathed, I think makes a difference to this extent: that if a building is burned down, the usufruct specifically bequeathed of the building cannot be claimed, but when the usufruct of the goods has been bequeathed, the usufruct of the site can be claimed; since he who bequeaths the usufruct of his goods seems to bequeath the usufruct not only of those things which exist in specie, but also of the entire substance, and in the substance of goods there is also the site.

Notes

  1. 7.1.34.pruter eorum prior utatur — An indirect question clause meaning 'which of them is to use it first', representing the object of decision implied by the verb `consenserint` (agree) in the conditional clause. The subjunctive present `utatur` is used.
  2. 7.1.34.1ut neque mercedes praestet et impensas ... recipiat — A substantive clause of result functioning as the object of the verb `consequetur` (obtain). The combination of the negative `neque` and the affirmative `et` coordinates two contrasting effects: 'that he does not pay rent' and 'that he receives expenses'.
  3. 7.1.34.2Uniuersorum bonorum an singularum rerum usus fructus legetur — An alternative indirect question clause introduced by the conjunction `an`, meaning 'whether the usufruct of the whole of the goods or of individual things is bequeathed'. It functions as the subject (or the core subject of concern) of the impersonal infinitive `interesse` (to make a difference) in the main clause.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §7.1.34.pr-7.1.34.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:7.1.34.pr-7.1.34.2

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