ABSTRACT
The law of succession addresses the legal destiny of a person's rights and duties after his death. Succession was originally universal in the sense that it encompassed, as a unit, all the rights and duties of the deceased. The two basic forms of legacy were the legacy per vindicationem and the legacy per damnationem. More common, general, and flexible than the legacy per vindicationem was the legacy per damnationem, by means of which the testator charged an obligation upon the heir. A matter of some dispute among Roman jurists was when, exactly, the legatee acquired ownership over the legacy. If the legacy was submitted to a condition, the dies cedens was delayed until the fulfillment of the condition. Fideicommissum, or trust, was an informal request made by the deceased to an heir or other beneficiary of his estate. The object of a fideicommissum could be virtually anything, including the whole estate or a portion of it.
