Digestorum libri
Ex libro LXX
The Same, Digest, Book LXX. Where Stichus was bequeathed to a master, and a bequest was also made by the testator to one of the slaves of the former, giving him the choice between Stichus and another slave, I hold that only half of Stichus would belong to the aforesaid master, because the said slave, if manumitted, could select Stichus.
The Same, Digest, Book LXX. Where a legacy is bequeathed without prescribing any time, as follows, “Let my heir provide my wife with provisions for her support, and if he does not do so, let him pay her a hundred aurei,” the legacy is understood to be only one of a hundred aurei, and it can be claimed at once. The statement relative to provisions has no other effect than to release the heir from liability, if they are delivered before issue has been joined in the case. 1Where the following provision was inserted into a will, namely, “If he should not furnish my wife with provisions before the Kalends of such-and-such a month, let him pay her a hundred aurei,” it is held that the result is not that there have been two legacies created, but that a hundred aurei were bequeathed to her under a condition. Hence if the wife should die before the Kalends of the month designated, she will not leave the provisions to her heir, because they have not been bequeathed; nor will she leave him a hundred aurei, because the day for the payment of the legacy has not arrived. 2Where a legacy is bequeathed under a condition to someone who is charged with a trust for my benefit, it is just as if the legacy was bequeathed to me absolutely, and the heir was appointed under a condition. 3Where a legacy of the amount which he owes is bequeathed to a debtor it is payable immediately, and an action can at once be brought under the will to obtain a release; and if the debtor should die after the death of the testator, he will transmit his right of action to his heir. 4The same rule will apply where a legacy is left in the same manner, not to the debtor himself, but to someone else.