{
  "schema": "https://archive.neruda-archives.org/files/context/public-context-v1.schema.json",
  "identifier": "NRA-L-000013",
  "language": "en",
  "status": "published",
  "title": "Partition costs, procedure and Article 823",
  "deck": "A private complaint set against the legal procedure for dividing an inheritance",
  "reviewed_on": "2026-07-29",
  "version": "1.0",
  "sections": [
    {
      "heading": "A dispute over the cost of partition",
      "paragraphs": [
        {
          "text": "Writing on 28 May 1810, Flavie Duval asks Noguès jeune, an avoué at Redon, about costs approaching 500 francs in proceedings concerning a partition. She describes part of the expense as frais frustratoires, or needless costs, and invokes Article 823 of the Civil Code in support of her complaint.",
          "sources": [
            1,
            3
          ]
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "heading": "What Article 823 provided",
      "paragraphs": [
        {
          "text": "Article 823 applied when a co-heir refused to consent to a partition or when disputes arose over how it should be conducted or completed. It allowed the court to decide summarily or to appoint a judge to oversee the operation. Duval's letter presents the article more broadly, so her wording should be understood as an interested party's legal argument rather than a verbatim statement of the provision.",
          "sources": [
            1,
            2
          ]
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "heading": "The recipient's professional role",
      "paragraphs": [
        {
          "text": "An avoué was a legal officer who represented parties and conducted procedural business before a court. That role helps explain why Duval directed her questions about procedure and costs to Noguès jeune.",
          "sources": [
            1,
            3
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "evidence_limits": [
    {
      "text": "The characterization of the costs as needless is Duval's allegation, not a finding of misconduct. One monetary notation in the manuscript, transcribed as '150 tt', remains unresolved and is not expanded here. No court file or final account has yet been identified to establish how the dispute ended.",
      "sources": [
        1
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "source-1",
      "kind": "Primary source · manuscript",
      "citation": "Neruda Archives, NRA-L-000013, digital images and reviewed transcript of Flavie Duval's letter dated 28 May 1810.",
      "url": "https://archive.neruda-archives.org/NRA-L-000013",
      "link_text": "View the archive record",
      "support": "Supports the parties, amounts, complaint about costs and reference to Article 823."
    },
    {
      "id": "source-2",
      "kind": "Primary source · legislation",
      "citation": "Code civil, Article 823, text in force from 21 March 1804.",
      "url": "https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/article_lc/LEGIARTI000006432545/1804-03-21",
      "link_text": "Read Article 823",
      "support": "Confirms the provision governing refusal or disputes in judicial partition."
    },
    {
      "id": "source-3",
      "kind": "Historical dictionary",
      "citation": "Centre national de ressources textuelles et lexicales, entry 'avoué'.",
      "url": "https://www.cnrtl.fr/definition/avou%C3%A9",
      "link_text": "Read the dictionary entry",
      "support": "Supports the historical professional meaning of avoué."
    }
  ],
  "claims": [
    {
      "id": "NRA-L-000013-claim-01",
      "statement": "Duval complains of costs approaching 500 francs in partition proceedings.",
      "evidence_type": "stated_in_document",
      "certainty": "documentary",
      "source_ids": [
        "source-1"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "NRA-L-000013-claim-02",
      "statement": "Article 823 governed refusal or disputes concerning the manner or completion of partition.",
      "evidence_type": "independently_confirmed",
      "certainty": "confirmed",
      "source_ids": [
        "source-2"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "NRA-L-000013-claim-03",
      "statement": "The letter's allegation of needless costs has not been independently adjudicated.",
      "evidence_type": "unresolved",
      "certainty": "open",
      "source_ids": [
        "source-1"
      ]
    }
  ]
}