Objectives The objective of this lecture is to present the institution of legata, fideicommissa and codicil such as they had been developed in Roman law, and subsequently to demonstrate if and how they were adopted in Polish and German law. This presentation does not cover the issues of will. Material and methods The article was written using dogmatic and comparative methodology. Results In this work it was prooved that both Polish and German modern law regarding partial property disposition in case of death have their origin in Roman law institution. Conclusions Although not all of those institution survived till today. In modern less formalised legal systems it is justified that the object of regulation is a general institution of bequeathment, without the division into strictly formal legatum and informal fideicommissum. On the other hand mortis causa act which codicil was in polish and german legal systems of succession law does not occur at all.