Twelve Tables of Rome
Table V. Inheritance Rights
| 1 | Inheritance by custom is the whole fund to the oldest living agnate, unless disposed by testamentum. |
| 2 | A testamentum may deprive an heir of their inheritance but cannot divide or dispose of the traditional landholdings of the house. |
| 3 | A valid testamentum is spoken and then recorded before a Tribunal, a minimum of three senior family members and seven witnesses, who through their sign to the memorandum bear willingness to testify. |
| 4 | [Female heirs should remain under guardianship even when they have attained the age of majority, but] exception is made for the Vestal Virgins. |
| 5 | Conveyable possessions of a woman under the guardianship of agnates shall not rightfully be acquired by usucapio or long usage save such possession as have been delivered up by her with a guardian’s sanction. |
| 6 | As one may direct regarding his possessions or the guardianship (tutelave) of his estate (suae rei), so shall right (ius) be. |
| 7 | If a freedman dies intestate, and has no self-successor (suus heres), the nearest agnate male kinsman shall have possession of the deceased’s household. |
| 8 | If there be no agnate male kinsman, the deceased’s clansmen (gentiles) shall have possession of his household. |
| 9 | To persons for whom a guardian has not been appointed by will, to them agnates are guardians. |
| 10 | If a man is raving mad, rightful authority over his person and chattels shall belong to his agnates or to his clansmen. |
| 11 | A spendthrift is forbidden to exercise administration over his own goods and shall be under the guardianship of his agnates. |
| 12 | The inheritance of a Roman citizen-freedman shall be made over to his patron if the freedman has died intestate and having no self-successor. |
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