If a husband should give any property to his wife, and she, after his
death, should remain chaste, or should marry another husband, she
shall have the power of disposing of the property given her by her
first husband according to the terms of his will, if she should have
no children. If she should die intestate and without children, the
property shall revert to her husband if he is living, and if not, it
shall belong to his heirs. But if she should have been convicted of
adultery, or other meretricious conduct, she shall lose any property
which she obtained from her husband, and it shall belong to his heirs,
or to his legitimate children.
=FLAVIUS CHINTASVINTUS, KING.=
=VI. Concerning Property Donated Verbally, or Conveyed by Instruments in
Writing.=
Any property given away in the presence of witnesses can under no
circumstances be reclaimed by the donor. And even if it should happen
that what is given is situated elsewhere, the donation cannot, for
that reason, be revoked, provided it is made in writing; because it
is evident that the gift is absolute, when the instrument conveying
it is in the name of, and for the benefit of him who receives it. It,
however, must be noted, that if the donor should say that he neither
delivered such an instrument nor directed it to be delivered, but that
it was taken from him; then the party to whom the property was given
may prove by witnesses that it was transferred to him, or directed to
be so transferred by the donor, or placed under his control by the will
of the testator; and, when he shall have produced such testimony, the
gift shall be deemed valid. Where he neglects to introduce competent
testimony, he who executed the instrument shall make oath that he
neither delivered it, nor directed it to be delivered, nor that he
voluntarily executed it; and the instrument shall then be returned to
him by whom it was claimed, and shall remain invalid, if the latter
so desires. But it is proper to add, that if anyone should execute
an instrument disposing of any property for the benefit of any one
whomsoever, and, in his lifetime, should not deliver it to him for
whose benefit it was made, and it should be found after the death of
the former; he for whose benefit the donor has made disposition of said
property, shall have the right to claim it, along with all the property
therein described; for it is evidently just that a document which the
donor, while living, preserved, and which never appeared to be altered
in any way, should have full force in law. If, however, the donor while
living did not relinquish possession of either the instrument or the
property, but kept them, and made other dispositions in his will, the
latter shall be valid; because a will always takes precedence in law
of documents previously executed, but not delivered. If he to whom the
property was given should die before receiving it it shall belong to
the donor or to his heirs.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account