Si tabulae testamenti extabunt
(Concerning prætorian possession where there is a will.)
1 Paulus libro tertio ad Sabinum. Heredi, cuius nomen inconsulto ita deletum sit, ut penitus legi non possit, dari bonorum possessio minime potest, quia ex coniectura non proprie scriptus videretur, quamvis, si post prolatas tabulas deletum sit testamentum, bonorum possessio competat. nam et si mortis tempore tabulae fuerint, licet postea interierint, competet bonorum possessio, quia verum fuit tabulas exstare.
1 Paulus, On Sabinus, Book III. Prætorian possession of property can, under no circumstances, be granted to an heir whose name has been erased from the will so that it can hardly be read, even though this has been done unintentionally; because the presumption is that it was not properly inserted, although such possession may be granted if the name has been defaced after the will has been produced. For if the will was in existence at the time of death, even though it may have been subsequently destroyed, prætorian possession of the estate can be granted, because it is true that there once was a will.