Definition of beneficium competentiae
1
Roman law
: the right of a defendant debtor bearing to plaintiff a special relationship (such as that of ascendant, patron, husband, former partner, or one who has promised but not delivered a gift or dowry) to a judgment that will not deprive the debtor of the means of existence
2 a
civil law
: the right of a gratuitous grantor to reserve if indigent a competency to himself or herself out of the subject of his grant
b
Scots law
: this right extended to fathers and grandfathers with respect to provisions granted to their children
