Corpus iurisprudentiae Romanae

Repertorium zu den Quellen des römischen Rechts

Digesta Iustiniani Augusti

Recognovit Mommsen (1870) et retractavit Krüger (1928)
Convertit in Anglica lingua Scott (1932)
Dig. XXIX3,
Testamenta quemadmodum aperiuntur inspiciantur et describantur
Liber vicesimus nonus
III.

Testamenta quemadmodum aperiuntur inspiciantur et describantur

(In What Way Wills Should Be Opened, Examined, and Copied.)

1Gaius li­bro sep­ti­mo de­ci­mo ad edic­tum pro­vin­cia­le. Om­ni­bus, qui­cum­que de­si­de­rant ta­bu­las tes­ta­men­ti in­spi­ce­re vel et­iam de­scri­be­re, in­spi­cien­di de­scri­ben­di­que po­tes­ta­tem fac­tu­rum se prae­tor pol­li­ce­tur: quod vel suo vel alie­no no­mi­ne de­si­de­ran­ti tri­bue­re eum ma­ni­fes­tum est. 1Ra­tio au­tem hu­ius edic­ti ma­ni­fes­ta est: ne­que enim si­ne iu­di­ce trans­igi ne­que apud iu­di­cem ex­qui­ri ve­ri­tas de his con­tro­ver­siis, quae ex tes­ta­men­to pro­fi­cis­ce­ren­tur, ali­ter pot­est quam in­spec­tis co­gni­tis­que ver­bis tes­ta­men­ti. 2Si quis ne­get sigil­lum suum agnos­ce­re, non id­eo qui­dem mi­nus ape­riun­tur ta­bu­lae, sed alias su­spec­tae fiunt.

1Gaius, On the Provincial Edict, Book XVII. The Prætor promises that he will grant the privilege of examining and copying a will to all who desire to inspect one or copy it. It is plain that he will grant this permission to anyone who desires it either in his own name or in that of another. 1Ad Dig. 29,3,1,1Windscheid: Lehrbuch des Pandektenrechts, 7. Aufl. 1891, Bd. II, § 414, Note 12.The reason for the adoption of this Edict is plain; for one cannot, without judicial authority, carry out the provisions of a will, nor can the truth be ascertained by the court in those controversies which arise out of the interpretations of wills, except by the examination and investigation of the language contained therein. 2Where anyone refuses to acknowledge his seal, this does not prevent the opening of a will, but it becomes suspicious for this reason.

2Ul­pia­nus li­bro quin­qua­ge­si­mo ad edic­tum. Ta­bu­la­rum tes­ta­men­ti in­stru­men­tum non est unius ho­mi­nis, hoc est he­redis, sed uni­ver­so­rum, qui­bus quid il­lic ad­scrip­tum est: quin po­tius pu­bli­cum est in­stru­men­tum. 1Tes­ta­men­tum au­tem pro­prie il­lud di­ci­tur, quod iu­re per­fec­tum est: sed ab­usi­ve tes­ta­men­ta ea quo­que ap­pel­la­mus, quae fal­sa sunt vel in­ius­ta vel ir­ri­ta vel rup­ta: item­que in­per­fec­ta so­le­mus tes­ta­men­ta di­ce­re. 2Ad cau­sam au­tem tes­ta­men­ti per­ti­ne­re vi­de­tur id quod­cum­que qua­si ad tes­ta­men­tum fac­tum sit, in qua­cum­que ma­te­ria fue­rit scrip­tum, quod con­ti­neat su­pre­mam vo­lun­ta­tem: et tam prin­ci­pa­les quam se­cun­dae ta­bu­lae edic­to con­ti­nen­tur. 3Si plu­ra sint tes­ta­men­ta, quae quis ex­hi­be­ri de­si­de­ret, uni­ver­so­rum ei fa­cul­tas fa­cien­da est. 4Si du­bi­te­tur, utrum vi­vat an de­ces­se­rit is, cu­ius quis quod ad cau­sam tes­ta­men­ti per­ti­net in­spi­ci de­scri­bi­que pos­tu­lat, di­cen­dum est prae­to­rem cau­sa co­gni­ta sta­tue­re id de­be­re, ut, si li­que­rit eum vi­ve­re, non per­mit­tat. 4aIn­spi­ci ta­bu­las est, ut ip­sam scrip­tu­ram quis in­spi­ciat et sigil­la et quid aliud ex ta­bu­lis ve­lit spec­ta­re. 5In­spec­tio ta­bu­la­rum et­iam lec­tio­nem ea­rum in­di­cat. 6Diem au­tem et con­su­lem ta­bu­la­rum non pa­ti­tur prae­tor de­scri­bi vel in­spi­ci id­cir­co, ne quid fal­si fiat: nam­que et­iam in­spec­tio ma­te­riam fal­so fa­b­ri­can­do in­strue­re pot­est. 7Utrum au­tem in con­ti­nen­ti po­tes­ta­tem in­spi­cien­di vel de­scri­ben­di iu­bet an de­si­de­ran­ti tem­pus da­bit ad ex­hi­bitio­nem? et ma­gis est, ut da­ri de­beat se­cun­dum lo­co­rum an­gus­tias seu proli­xi­ta­tes. 8Si quis non ne­gans apud se ta­bu­las es­se non pa­tia­tur in­spi­ci et de­scri­bi, om­ni­mo­do ad hoc com­pel­le­tur: si ta­men ne­get pe­nes se ta­bu­las es­se, di­cen­dum est ad in­ter­dic­tum rem mit­ti quod est de ta­bu­lis ex­hi­ben­dis.

2Ulpianus, On the Edict, Book L. The instrument containing the provisions of the will does not belong to one person, that is to say, to the heir, but it is the property of all those to whom anything has been bequeathed; and, indeed, it is rather a public document. 1That is properly said to be a will which is legally perfect; however, we also improperly call certain papers wills which are forged, illegal, void, or broken, and we are also accustomed to designate as wills such as are defective. 2It is held that whatever has been done with reference to a will is subject to the same rules as the will itself, no matter upon what material it has been written; provided that it contains the last wishes of the deceased, and the will itself, as well as the substitution, is embraced in the Edict. 3Where anyone desires to produce several wills, authority to produce them all should be granted. 4If any doubt should exist whether the person whose will someone desires to have examined or copied is living or dead, it must be held that the Prætor shall decide this after proper investigation, so that if it is proved that the testator is living, he shall not permit the will to be examined; 4aotherwise, he can allow the applicant to examine the writing, the seals, and anything else belonging to the instrument which he may desire to inspect. 5The examination of a will also includes the perusal of the same. 6The Prætor does not permit the date of the will or the name of the Consul under whose administration it was drawn up to be copied or examined, in order to avoid opportunity for fraud; for even the examination of these may furnish material for the perpetration of forgery. 7Can the Prætor order that power to examine or copy a will be accorded without delay, or shall he grant time for its production to the person having possession of the same if he wishes it? The better opinion is that he should grant a certain time, dependent upon the difficulty of communication, and the distance of the place. 8If anyone does not deny that he has possession of a will, but will not allow it to be examined and copied, he should, by all means, be compelled to do so. If, however, he denies that the will is in his possession, it must be said that recourse should be had to the interdict which provides for the production of wills.

3Gaius li­bro sep­ti­mo de­ci­mo ad edic­tum pro­vin­cia­le. Ip­si ta­men he­redi vin­di­ca­tio ta­bu­la­rum sic­ut ce­te­ra­rum he­redi­ta­ria­rum re­rum com­pe­tit et ob id ad ex­hi­ben­dum quo­que age­re pot­est.

3Gaius, On the Provincial Edict, Book XVII. The heir is, nevertheless, entitled to an action for the recovery of the will, just as for property belonging to the estate, and on this account he can bring an action to compel the production of the will.

4Ul­pia­nus li­bro quin­qua­ge­si­mo ad edic­tum. Cum ab in­itio ape­rien­dae sint ta­bu­lae, prae­to­ris id of­fi­cium est, ut co­gat sig­na­to­res con­ve­ni­re et sigil­la sua re­co­gnos­ce­re

4Ulpianus, On the Edict, Book L. When the will is about to be opened, it is the duty of the Prætor to require the witnesses to appear and acknowledge their seals,

5Pau­lus li­bro oc­ta­vo ad Plau­tium. vel ne­ga­re se sig­nas­se: pu­bli­ce enim ex­pe­dit su­pre­ma ho­mi­num iu­di­cia ex­itum ha­be­re.

5Paulus, On Plautius, Book VIII. Or deny that they have sealed the will; for it is expedient that the last will of men should be carried into effect.

6Ul­pia­nus li­bro quin­qua­ge­si­mo ad edic­tum. Sed si ma­ior pars sig­na­to­rum fue­rit in­ven­ta, pot­erit ip­sis in­ter­ve­nien­ti­bus re­sig­na­ri tes­ta­men­tum et re­ci­ta­ri.

6Ulpianus, On the Edict, Book L. If the majority of the witnesses are found, the will can be opened and read in their presence.

7Gaius li­bro sep­ti­mo ad edic­tum pro­vin­cia­le. Sed si quis ex sig­na­to­ri­bus ab­erit, mit­ti de­bent ta­bu­lae tes­ta­men­ti ubi ip­se sit, uti agnos­cat: nam re­vo­ca­ri eum ad­gnos­cen­di cau­sa one­ro­sum est. quip­pe sae­pe cum mag­na cap­tio­ne a re­bus nos­tris re­vo­ca­mur et sit in­iquum dam­no­sum cui­que es­se of­fi­cium suum. nec ad rem per­ti­net, unus ab­sit an om­nes. et si for­te om­ni­bus ab­sen­ti­bus cau­sa ali­qua ape­ri­re ta­bu­las ur­gueat, de­bet pro­con­sul cu­ra­re, ut in­ter­ve­nien­ti­bus op­ti­mae opi­nio­nis vi­ris ape­rian­tur et post de­scrip­tum et re­co­gni­tum fac­tum ab is­dem, qui­bus in­ter­ve­nien­ti­bus aper­tae sunt, ob­sig­nen­tur, tunc de­in­de eo mit­tan­tur, ubi ip­si sig­na­to­res sint, ad in­spi­cien­da sigil­la sua.

7Gaius, On the Provincial Edict, Book VII. If one of the witnesses should be absent, the will must be sent to him wherever he may be, in order that he may acknowledge his seal. For it would be a hardship to compel him to return for this purpose, as frequently it causes great inconvenience for us to be taken from our business under such circumstances; and it would be unjust for anyone to suffer injury for having performed his duty. Nor does it make any difference whether one or all of the witnesses are absent. If all of them should happen to be absent, and, for some cause or other, there is an urgent necessity for opening the will, the Proconsul should take care that it is opened in the presence of men of excellent reputation; and after it has been copied and examined in their presence, it must be sealed by the same parties before whom it was opened, and then sent to the place where the witnesses are, in order that they may acknowledge their seals.

8Ul­pia­nus li­bro quin­qua­ge­si­mo ad edic­tum. Pu­pil­la­res ta­bu­las, et­iam­si non fue­rit su­per­scrip­tum ne ape­ri­ren­tur, at­ta­men, si se­or­sum eas sig­na­tas tes­ta­tor re­li­que­rit, prae­tor eas ape­ri­ri ni­si cau­sa co­gni­ta non pa­tie­tur.

8Ulpianus, On the Edict, Book L. The Prætor does not permit the opening of a pupillary will, even if there is no endorsement on it forbidding this to be done; still, if the testator left his will partially sealed, the Prætor can allow it to be opened, if proper cause be shown.

9Pau­lus li­bro qua­dra­ge­si­mo quin­to ad edic­tum. Si mu­lier ven­tris no­mi­ne in pos­ses­sio­ne sit, ape­rien­dae sunt se­cun­dae ta­bu­lae, ut scia­tur, cui deman­da­ta sit cu­ra­tio.

9Paulus, On the Edict, Book XLV. Where a woman is placed in prætorian possession of an estate in the name of her unborn child, the pupillary will should be opened, in order that it may be ascertained to whom the curatorship of the child was entrusted.

10Ul­pia­nus li­bro ter­tio de­ci­mo ad le­gem Iu­liam et Pa­piam. Si in duo­bus ex­em­pla­riis scrip­tum sit tes­ta­men­tum, al­ter­utro pa­te­fac­to aper­tae ta­bu­lae sunt. 1Si sui na­tu­ra ta­bu­lae pa­te­fac­tae sunt, aper­tum vi­de­ri tes­ta­men­tum non du­bi­ta­tur: non enim quae­re­mus, a quo ape­rian­tur. 2Si ta­bu­lae non com­pa­reant vel ex­us­tae sint, fu­tu­rum est, ut sub­ve­ni­re le­ga­ta­riis de­beat. idem est, si sub­pres­sae vel oc­cul­tae sint.

10Ulpianus, On the Lex Julia et Papia, Book XIII. Where there are two copies of a will, and one of them remains unsealed, the will is held to be opened. 1Where the will itself is unsealed, there is no doubt that it should be considered as opened; for we do not inquire by whom it is to be opened. 2If a will should not be produced, or has been burned, it follows that relief should be granted to the legatees; and the same rule applies where the will has been suppressed, or concealed.

11Gaius li­bro un­de­ci­mo ad le­gem Iu­liam et Pa­piam. Sic­ut co­di­cil­li pars in­tel­le­gun­tur tes­ta­men­ti, ita se­cun­dae ta­bu­lae prin­ci­pa­lium ta­bu­la­rum par­tem op­ti­ne­re vi­den­tur.

11Gaius, On the Lex Julia et Papia, Book XI. Just as a codicil is considered to be part of a will, so a pupillary substitution is also held to constitute a part of the same.

12Ul­pia­nus li­bro ter­tio de­ci­mo ad le­gem Iu­liam et Pa­piam. Si quis fe­ce­rit tes­ta­men­tum et ex­em­plum eius, ex­em­plo qui­dem aper­to non­dum aper­tum est tes­ta­men­tum: quod si au­then­ti­cum pa­te­fac­tum est to­tum, aper­tum.

12Ulpianus, On the Lex Julia et Papia, Book XIII. Where anyone makes a will and also a copy of it, and the copy is open, the will is not considered to be open; but when the original will is open, everything else is likewise.