De his quae pro non scriptis habentur
(Considering Testamentary Provisions Which Are Considered as Not Having Been Written.)
1Julianus, Digest, Book LXXVIII. Where anyone has been asked to write the bequest of an estate or a legacy in a will to himself, the question arises whether the said bequest of the estate or the legacy shall be considered as not having been written; and also whether under an appointment made in this way, an heir can have a substitute. The answer was that the portion of the estate concerning which you have asked advice belongs to the substitute, for when the Senate fixed the penalties of the Cornelian Law against a person who, in a will, appointed himself heir or legatee of an estate, he is also held to have, in the same way, rendered appointments of an inveigling character void, as for instance, the following, “Let Titius be my heir to the same portion of the estate for which he himself has appointed me by his will,” as provisions of this kind are considered just as if they had not been inserted in the will.
2Alfenus Varus, Digest, Book V. Where the meaning of any testamentary provision cannot be ascertained, it is just as if it had not been written, but the other provisions will still be valid.
3Marcianus, Institutes, Book XI. Anything over and above a bequest for maintenance which is left to a criminal sentenced to the mines is considered as not having been written, but it is not forfeited to the Treasury, because the legatee is the slave of a penalty, and not the slave of the Emperor. The Divine Pius stated this in a Rescript. 1If an heir or legatee, who was appointed, should be condemned to the mines after the will has been executed, the estate or the legacy will not be forfeited to the Treasury. 2Likewise, if anything is left to the slave of another, and he is afterwards purchased by the testator, the legacy will be extinguished; for any bequests which are transferred to a place from which they cannot originate are considered as not having been written.
4Ulpianus, On the Lex Julia et Papia, Book XIII. Where a bequest is made to anyone at a time when he is already dead, it is considered as not having been written. 1Moreover, where a legatee is in the power of the enemy at the time that the will is made, and does not return from captivity, the legacy is held not to have been written. This was also stated by Julianus.
5Paulus, Questions, Book XII. When anyone appoints himself the heir in a will by which he is directed to deliver the estate to someone else, the trust with its burden will still remain imposed upon him, even though what he has done will be considered as not having been written. The same rule also applies to the will of a soldier.