# Institutes of Gaius 2.1.181-185

Roman Law and Society, Institutes of Gaius, 2.1.181 to 2.1.185. Latin.

Canonical: https://interlinea.aeterna-institute.org/library/latin/roman-law-and-society/institutes-of-gaius/2.1.181

What then should be done? If anyone demands prætorian possession of an estate on the ground of intestacy, and he who is appointed by the will claims it, the latter may, in this instance, be excluded by an exception on the ground of fraud, provided it is proved to have been the intention of the testator that the estate should go to those entitled to the same as heirs-at-law; and this rule is set forth in a rescript of the Emperor Antoninus. (152) Again, heirs are either designated necessary, or necessary and proper, or foreign heirs. (153) A necessary heir is a slave appointed with the grant of his freedom; and he is so called because at the death of the testator, whether he is willing or unwilling, he at once becomes free and his heir. (154) For this reason anyone who suspects that he is insolvent, usually appoints his slave his heir with the grant of his freedom as a substitute in the second or any inferior degree; so that, if his creditors are not satisfied in full, the property of his estate may be sold rather as belonging to the heir than to the testator himself, and the disgrace which results from the sale of the property of an insolvent estate may attach rather to the heir than to the testator; although as was held by Sabinus, according to Fufidius, that he ought not to suffer ignominy because the sale of the property of the estate was not caused by his fault but through the requirements of the law. We, however, adopt a different view. (155) As a recompense for this inconvenience, the benefit is conferred upon the slave of acquiring for himself everything which 'he obtains after the death of his patron, whether it was reserved for him before or after the sale of the property; and although only a part of the claim may have been paid by the proceeds of the sale, his subsequently acquired property cannot again be sold on account of the debts of the estate, unless he should have acquired something on account of his being the heir, for example, the estate of a Latin freedman, and thereby have become more wealthy; while if the property of other persons when sold only pays a portion of the indebtedness, and they afterwards acquire any other property, the latter may be sold time and again.

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Roman Law and Society, Institutes of Gaius. Text: The Latin Library (thelatinlibrary.com), used with permission. Changes: HTML markup removed and the text divided into reading sections by Interlinea.
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