Sui heredes
The term Sui heredes (" heirs of the house ") was used in Roman antiquity to refer to people who had become legally independent ( non-violent , sui iuris ) after the death of the head of the family ( pater familias ) .
In Roman society, the father of a family has long been considered the unrestricted master of the family, which includes not only the immediate family but also other household members such as slaves and freedmen. Initially, the head of the family was unlimited in his means, but in the course of history his family omnipotence was in part somewhat restricted. When the head of the family died, new situations arose for the heirs. Children, grandchildren and possibly wives ( woman in marital power , uxor in manu ), who were treated like a "house daughter" in inheritance law, adopted children and children born afterwards ( posthumus ) acquired the inheritance by law immediately at the moment of the death of the family father ( ipso iure ). It does not matter whether they were considered in the will or were called by law. It was possible to refuse the inheritance ( abstentio ), but only as long as an heir had not yet intervened in the inheritance process ( immiscere ).
Sui heredes enjoyed a formal right of inheritance ( praeteritio ). If the heir also died before the age of majority, a replacement heir could be determined ( substitutio ). All other possible heirs ( external heirs , aditio hereditatis ) were only entitled to inheritance if they were considered in a will or if they were legally appointed as heirs. This means that people who had already left the house association, for example through emancipatio or daughters through a manusa marriage , were automatically inherited. Daughters in particular had received a dowry when they married , which was considered an inheritance that had been paid out early.
literature
- Ulrich Manthe : Sui heredes . In: The New Pauly . Vol. 11 (2001), Col. 1091f.