PLINY'S SCHEME
Pliny had a better idea. He would decline the inheritance altogether. Admittedly if he were the only one to act in this way the effect would have been merely to increase the shares of his fellow heirs.[239] But, as before, the implication is that if one of Pliny's rectitude declined then all would have to follow his example.
If all the instituted heirs declined the inheritance then the will would fail. The implication then is that Curianus would benefit: profuturum si cessissem. As we have seen children had no civil law rights of inheritance from their mothers married in free marriage. In any case, in order to make a will, Pomponia had to undergo the self-sale process which amounted to capitis deminutio and broke all existing family ties. If she then failed to make a will or the will itself failed there was no one eligible at civil law to take the estate on intestacy. However, the praetorian scheme of succession, effected by bonorum possessio enabling those benefited by it to obtain possession and then ownership by usucapio, offered the succession to cognates, relatives, of the deceased. The relationship of cognate, not being a civil law notion, was unaffected by the deceased's having undergone capitis diminutio. If then Pliny's act caused all those instituted heir to decline, promoting an intestacy, Curianus would be entitled to seek possession of the inheritance unde cognati (the phrase, expanded, implies “in that part of the edict on grants of bonorum possessio where the relatives are called”[240]).But there was a condition attached to Pliny's offer. He would only agree to act in this way if it could be shown to his satisfaction that Curianus' mother had been wrong to disinherit him. How to test this question? Curianus asked Pliny to hold an enquiry and this, after some hesitation, he agreed to do.
F.
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- The scheme of the Act
- THE HEARING BEFORE PLINY
- PLINY HAS COME IN FOR A LEGACY
- The Dutiful Legatee: Pliny, Letters V.1
- Social welfare: the alimenta
- INTRODUCTION
- CURIANUS' QUERELA INOFFICIOSI TESTAMENTI
- CONCLUSION
- FINAL SETTLEMENT
- Humanitas and clementia: Flavians, Antonines, Severans