THE FORM OF DISINHERITANCE IN THE JUSTINIAN LAW.

The analysis of the sources of the laws regulating the procedure of disinheritance in Justinian law suggests that those laws originated in pre-Justinian times. Justinian’s contribution to the regulation of the form in which disinheritance may be conducted was twofold: on the one hand, Justinian relaxed the existing legal requirements, and on the other, he replaced them with new requirements which, since his times on have been used to ensure better protection of the statutory heirs against unjust disinheritance. Justinian law, similarly to the old civil law and praetorian law required that the testator observed a very strict form if he wished to disinherit a statutory heir, to be reflected in the last will and testament, or the requirement of the disinheritance nominatim. Justinian advocated a far reaching flexibility of the strict regulations as to the placement of the disinheritance decision in the testament, and, in particular, he revoked the rigorous form of exheros esto that had been absolutely binding until 531. Like the old jurists, he also rejected the possibility of disinheriting with the use of accidentalia negotti. He upheld the requirement that disinheritance must apply to the entire estate and excluded the possibility of valid disinheritance without an appointment of another heir. Justinian added the requirement of naming all potential heirs, and the requirement of stating the reason for disinheritance if no legitim was stipulated