Emancipatio
The formal liberation of a son from the control (manus) of his father. If the son were sold three times over all the rights of his father came to an end. If then a father wished to make a son his own master (sui iuris), he made him over three times by mancipatio or a fictitious sale to a third person. The third person emancipated him the first and second time, so that he came again into the control of his father. After purchasing him a third time he either emancipated him himself, and thus became his patronus, or he sold him back to the father, to whom he now stood, not in the relation of a son, but in mancipio, so that the father could liberate him without more ado. In this case the father remained patronus of the son. The emancipated son did not, as in the case of adoption (see Adoptio), pass into the patria potestas of another, and therefore retained his father's family name; but he lost his right to inherit in default of a will. See Manus.