DONATION IN PROSPECT OF DEATH (DONATIO MORTIS CAUSA)
DONATION IN PROSPECT OF DEATH (DONATIO MORTIS CAUSA)

Summary/Abstract: A death gift is a legal business with a long legal tradition. Along with testament and legatee, it has its roots in Roman law. In different European periods of the development of Roman law, the donatio morits causa had different legal nature, but the dominant one was the one created in Justinian's law, where a gift in case of death was considered a legate. It was a charitable disposition of the donor with the intention of gifting the recipient, which produced a legal effect after the death of the donor, but only on the condition that the recipient outlives the donor. As such, the donatio morits causa was, as a rule, revocable. The contentious legal nature marked the further development of death gifts. Thus, the AGZ accepted the dual nature of the gift in case of death as both a legacy and a gift contract, while the SGZ accepted the Roman concept. A different interpretation has been maintained to this day because the gift in the event of death is not regulated by positive regulations, either under obligation law or under inheritance law. It is generally considered that a death gift is a type of inter vivos gift contract where the delivery of the object of the gift is delayed until the time of the death of the donor. It is a gift contract concluded under a suspensive condition that arises at the time of the death of the donor, and the condition is not that the recipient outlives the donor. If the recipient dies before the donor, his heirs have the right to demand the delivery of the gift. A gift contract in the event of death understood as a contract is, as a rule, irrevocable.

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