Legacies
A legacy was a gift of certain specific items from the testator to the legatee at the expense of the heir or heirs. In his Institutes, Florentinus defined a legacy (legatum) as “a deduction from the inheritance by which a testator wishes something to be transferred to somebody out of the total that would belong to the heir” (D.
30.116pr.). By legacy, the testator could transfer his own property and rights arising from claims, could create a usufruct or a dowry, and could release persons from debts, among other legal acts. Civil law allowed testators to give a share of their estate as a legacy (legatum partitionis). Even in this case, the legatee was not considered a universal successor, because he did not represent the deceased, could not sue or be sued as heir, and was not liable, like the heir, for debts of the estate. Legacies always had to be for the benefit of the legatee and not simply for the purpose of constraining the heir to do or not do something. Gaius (2.235) offers the following example of an invalid legacy whose purpose was to control the heir: “If my heir gives his daughter in marriage to Titius, let him pay Seius ten thousand sesterces.” Legacies were revocable by the testator.In early Roman law, a legacy could be bequeathed only in a valid testament after the appointment of an heir. Later, legacies could be made in a codicil confirmed by a will (Gaius 2.270a). Justinian allowed legacies even in unconfirmed codicils. The rules dictating who could be a beneficiary were similar to the rules of testamentary capacity. The lex Voconia, however, limited the testamentary capacity of women and was not applied to legacies. An heir could receive, in addition to his share in the estate, a specific thing as a legacy. Like the institution of heirs, legacies could be submitted to conditions and terms (dies). In order to protect heirs against an excessive charge of legacies on an estate, the lex Falcidia (40 bce) provided that when legacies exceeded three-quarters of an estate, they were cut back proportionally.
More on the topic Legacies:
- Legacies
- Restrictions on Legacies
- Acquisition of legacies
- Types of legacies
- Roman Law Terms with Letters X
- 5. GIFTS OUT OF THE INHERITANCE
- 8.8 Failure
- PLINY HAS COME IN FOR A LEGACY
- Although it sounds innocent enough - putting legal doctrines, personalities and ideas in historical context - the conclusion is less ‘thought you'd like to know' than ‘this matters'. Contextual histories aim volleys at the field's commanding height
- CHAPTER XXII. MANUMISSION DURING THE EMPIRE (coni.). FIDEICOMMISSARY GIFTS.
- Testamentary succession
- Making a will
- THE MAKE-UP OF THE PECULIUM
- Heirs
- THE ORDERING OF THE LAW
- Index