Fructus (Roman law)

Fructus (Latin for "fruits") was a legal term used in Roman law to describe products which originate from both natural sources (e.g. the natural produce of gardens, reproduction of animals, etc.) and legal transactions (e.g. loan interest).

Types

• Fructus naturales – fruits which originate naturally without the assistance of man (e.g. apples grown on an apple tree)
• Fructus civiles – profits obtained through legal transactions (e.g. loan interest)
• Fructus consumpti – fruits which have been consumed (e.g. an apple which has been eaten)
• Fructus extantes – fruits not consumed (as opposed to fructus consumpti)
• Fructus industriales – crops produced by the labor of man (e.g. wheat, corn)
• Fructus pendentes – fruits not separated from the object which they originate from (e.g. apples still hanging on the tree)
• Fructus percepti – fruits which have been taken possession of by separating them from the object which produced them (as opposed to fructus pendentes)
• Fructus percipiendi – fruits which would have but have not been produced at fault of the holder of the fruit-producing object
• Fructus separati – fruits separated from the object which produced them (e.g. berries gathered from a tree)

References