Definition
Bonorum possessio (Latin: "possession of goods") is a doctrine of Roman praetorian law by which the praetor granted an heir or claimant the right to take possession of a deceased person's estate, independently of — and sometimes in correction of — the strict rules of the civil law (ius civile). Where the civil law either produced no heir, produced an unjust result, or left the estate without an orderly successor, the praetor could intervene by granting bonorum possessio to a person who would not otherwise have qualified. The grant was procedural in origin: it conferred possession and the right to pursue and retain the estate's assets, enforced through the praetor's own remedies rather than through the formal civil law actions.
The essential character of bonorum possessio is that it was equitable rather than strictly legal. The bonorum possessor held the estate not as a civil law heres (heir) in the traditional sense, but under praetorian protection. Over time, however, the distinction between civil and praetorian heirship largely collapsed, and bonorum possessio became the functional equivalent of full succession in most practical contexts.
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Common Confusion
Bonorum possessio is sometimes conflated with hereditas, the civil law institution of heirship. The distinction matters for historical research: a heres took the estate by operation of the ius civile and assumed both assets and liabilities automatically; a bonorum possessor held by praetorian grant and required active enforcement through praetorian remedies. Sources treating these as interchangeable are compressing a distinction Roman jurists took seriously. Researchers should also avoid confusing bonorum possessio with bonorum emptio (the purchase of an insolvent debtor's estate at auction), an entirely separate institution sharing only the first word.
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Recognized Forms
/SUBTYPES
Roman jurisprudence recognized several categories of bonorum possessio, distinguished by the basis on which the grant was made:
Bonorum possessio secundum tabulas — granted in accordance with a will (following the testamentary tablets), supporting a testamentary heir who lacked strict civil law standing.
Bonorum possessio contra tabulas — granted against a will, in favor of persons (typically children) whom the testator had improperly passed over or disinherited.
Bonorum possessio ab intestato — granted on intestacy, where the civil law rules left no heir or produced an inequitable distribution.
Bonorum possessio cum re / sine re — a cross-cutting distinction: cum re (with effect) meant the possessor could retain the estate against all challengers; sine re (without effect) meant a civil law claimant could still displace the possessor by bringing the proper action.
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Why It Matters in Research
This term appears almost exclusively in sources dealing with Roman law and its civil law descendants — the ius commune tradition, canon law treatises, and early modern continental legal scholarship. Researchers working in Anglo-American common law sources will encounter bonorum possessio rarely and almost always in comparative or historical context.
Several traps warrant attention. First, Burrill's entry is incomplete as preserved — the definition breaks off mid-sentence and appears to run into an unrelated entry (a premium paid for a charter). Researchers relying solely on Burrill for this term will find the entry truncated and should supplement with civil law sources. Second, the term's meaning evolved across centuries of Roman legal development: early bonorum possessio was a purely temporary, possessory remedy; classical and post-classical Roman law substantially closed the gap between bonorum possessor and heres. A source's date and juristic school will affect which version of the doctrine it describes. Third, the cum re / sine re distinction is critical: many secondary sources describe bonorum possessio as though it were full heirship, which is accurate only for the cum re grant and only in the later classical period.
For corpus researchers, bonorum possessio connects naturally to broader treatments of Roman succession, praetorian equity, and the contrast between ius civile and ius honorarium. It surfaces in institutional works (Justinian's Institutes, Gaius) and in civil law commentators frequently cited in early American equity scholarship.
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Historical Dictionary Support
Burrill defines bonorum possessio as "possession of goods" and glosses it as "prætorian succession," noting that it encompasses "the right of pursuing and retaining the property of a person deceased... not strictly due by the civil law, but granted by the prætor from a principle of" — at which point the entry as preserved breaks off. The Greek gloss Burrill supplies (rendered as pairwpia diadox, an apparent transliteration of the Greek for praetorian succession) reflects the bilingual character of Roman juristic writing in the classical period.
Despite its truncation, Burrill's entry captures the two essential features: the praetorian (rather than civil law) source of the right, and its functional orientation toward estate pursuit and retention. What it cannot supply — given the entry's incompleteness — is any account of the subtypes, the cum re / sine re distinction, or the doctrinal evolution. Researchers should treat Burrill here as a starting point and a pointer, not a complete account. Continental civil law dictionaries and institutional treatises on Roman law will be necessary for substantive engagement with this term.
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Jurisdictional Note
Bonorum possessio is a Roman law institution with no direct common law counterpart. It retains doctrinal relevance in civil law jurisdictions whose private law descends from Roman and ius commune tradition, including French, Spanish, Italian, and Louisiana law. In comparative succession scholarship, it appears as the historical antecedent to equitable doctrines correcting strict testamentary formalism.
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Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
Law Mind Encyclopedia — Roman Law
Law Mind Encyclopedia — Praetorian Law
Law Mind Encyclopedia — Succession (Historical)
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