Legal Definitions - legatum

LEGATUM

Legatum (pronounced luh-gay-tuhm) is a Latin term that means a special bequest or gift left by a deceased person to be paid from the estate by the heir. Unlike an heir, a legatee acquires a benefit and no duties attached.

There are different types of legatum:

• Legatum debiti: A legacy to the decedent's creditor of what the decedent owes.
• Legatum dotis: A legacy of dowry.
• Legatum generis: A legacy of a subject of a general class.
• Legatum liberationis: A legacy by which a testator released the indebted legatee from a debt.
• Legatum nominis: A legacy by which a testator willed to the legatee a debt owed to the testator from a third party.
• Legatum optionis: A legacy of one of several items that the designated beneficiary chooses from the testator's estate.
• Legatum peculii: A legacy of a peculium to a free person or to a manumitted slave.
• Legatum quantitatis: A general legacy of a certain amount.
• Legatum rei alienae: A legacy of an item that belongs to a third party.
• Legatum universitatis: A legacy of the testator's entire estate.

For example, a testator might make a gift of a horse without specifically naming which one of ten horses in the estate. This is an example of legatum generis. Another example is legatum dotis, where a husband might bequeath a dowry back to his wife, and the widow could receive her dowry immediately.