DERIVATIVE METHODS OF

ACQUIRING OWNERSHIP
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Mancipation
Jus jure cessio
Tradito
Donation
Thesaurus
Usucapion
Praescriptio
Adjudicatio
Lex

DERIVATIVE MODE

MANCIPATION

Formal ceremony of transfer of property

of a symbolic act in the presence of
both parties and witnesses.

JU JURE CESSIO

A fictitious lawsuit where the transferee claimed

before the praetor to be the owner of a res.

TRADITIO

An owner of a corporial thing transfers to another

his ownership.
ELEMENTS

The person who transferred it must be the owner

He must place the person to whom he transferred it in legal possession of the thing
He must transfer the thing with the intention of

passing the property in it

The person to whom it was transferred must receive it with intention to become the
owner

DONATION

Understood from the terms dono (expressing the

motive) and dare (signifies the passing of
property by delivery)
Mode of transferring property by gift

KINDS
Mortis causa or donations made in contemplation of the donors death.
(type of Mortis Causa Donation)
Inter vivos or donations during the lifetime of the donor.
donatio propter nuptias
donatio ante nuptias

THESAURUS

Finding a thing and acquiring ownership thereof.

RULES
Sole ownership
If the thing is found in ones own land.
If found in a sacred or religious place through an accidental search
Divided ownership
by the finder and the owner of the land were the thing was found.
by the finder and the state if found in a public property.

USUCAPION

Acquiring ownership through continuous and

uninterupted possession for a length of time
which eventually ripens into legal dominium.
Applies only to movables and the land in Italy
REQUISITES
The thing should be susceptible of being held in dominio.
The thing must be possessed ex justa causa.
The possession must be in bona fide.

Usurpatio was the term used for the interruption

of usurpatio.

WAYS OF INTERRUPTION
The immovable thing might be taken away from the possessor through usurpatio;
By expelling the possessor from the immovable thing.
By the impossibility for physical causes to occupy it.
By falling into the power of the enemy.
By civil interruption in an action to contest the right of possession.

PERIOD FOR USUCAPIO POSSESSION

movables
10 years
if the parties lived in the same province
20 years
if in different provinces
immovables
3 years

PRAESCRIPTIO (verify)

Similar to that of usucapio only that it applies to

immovables whether in Italian of provincial lands.
There is prescriptio or possessio longi temporis;

If there was a possession for 30 years.

In case of ecclesiastical property
In property mortgaged in possession of the debtor for 40
years

ADJUDICATIO

The order of the court in an action to divide an

inheritance or property in common

LEX

Transfer or acquisition of ownership through

special statutes.

Such as the transfers through bequests to bachelors or

spinsters or married couple without children who have
been debarred from taking them under early imperial
rescripts.