As we should not, where it is proper to do so, refuse salutary remedies to those who are in distress, so we should justly impose censure where irrational contention occurs. Hereafter, when any dispute arises concerning the will of an ancestor, which appears to have been drawn up justly and legally, and according to obligations which have been incurred; if any interested party to whom the will is shown, should say that he does not know that it is true, he who has produced it must immediately swear that no fraud or mutilation has been made therein at any time, by him, or by any one else, so far as he knows; but that it still remains just as the testator executed it. Then he who refused to accept it shall be forced to swear that he does not know that said will is authentic, and does not recognize it, and is not aware that it has been legally drawn up, or that the seal or signature of the maker is genuine. Then search must be made by both parties, among the effects of the deceased, for instruments in writing; so that, by comparison with the seals and signatures of other documents, it may be properly established, whether the matter alleged is true or false. Then, if documents of the testator should not be found, by comparison with which the will in question can be proved, he who introduced the will shall make diligent inquiry, wherever he can, for other papers of the testator, by comparison with which he may prove the will in question. And if, after all these efforts, the truth should not be ascertained, he who introduced the will, even if he had summoned witnesses from a distance, must pay all expenses; and he who refused to accept it, shall not be liable to any penalty whatever. But in such cases, if he who declared the will to be fraudulent, did so, not for the sake of truth, but solely for the annoyance of the other party, and to compel him to summon witnesses, and incur expense, in order to establish the genuineness of the will; then he who introduced the will, must prove by witnesses that it is true and unmutilated; and he who, through an unjust contention, has caused annoyance and expense to his adversary, must pay the amount of the penalty mentioned in the will. But if he has not sufficient property, after an estimate has been made of the same, to pay the sum which the testator prescribed, or openly refuses to pay said penalty, he shall be forced to surrender to him whom he has wronged, all that he would have inherited from the testator. We decree that this law shall apply to the wills of parents alone; because we see that sons or grandsons very frequently are involved in unjust disputes with one another. This exception, however, is made, that if a will shall be found to be, in any way, opposed to the laws, any one is free to dispute its validity. =FLAVIUS CHINTASVINTUS, KING.= =XVII. No Testator shall be Permitted to Dispose of Property in One Way in the Presence of Witnesses, and in Another by a Written Will.=