falcidian law

Falcidian law (fal-sid-ee-[schwa]n).Roman law. A law prescribing that one could give no more than three-fourths of one’s property in legacies and that the heirs should receive at least one-fourth (the Falcidian portion). • If the testator violated this law, the heir had the right to deduct proportionally from each legatee as necessary. The law, proposed by the Roman tribune Falcidius, was enacted in 40 B.C.

— Also termed lex Falcidia. See LEGITIME.

“A large number of small legacies might [either] leave nothing for the heir … [or] make his part so small as to seem valueless in his eyes. But a Falcidian law, passed in the year 40 B.C., put an end to the whole difficulty. This law secured to the heir a quarter of the net value of the estate; the legatees could obtain only three-quarters: if the legatees named in the will amounted to more than this, they were diminished by proportional reductions…. Few measures have accomplished their purpose more satisfactorily than the Falcidian law, which remained in force through the history of the empire, and holds an important place in the system of Justinian.” James Hadley, Introduction to Roman Law 321–22 (1881).

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