Donation, Donation Inter Vivos

DONATION - The act by which the owner of a thing voluntarily transfers the title and possession of the same from himself to another person, without any consideration; a gift.

A donation is never perfected until it is has been accepted, for the acceptance is requisite to make the donation complete.

DONATION INTER VIVOS - A contract which takes place by the mutual consent of the giver, who divests himself of the thing given in order to transmit the title of it to the donee gratuitously, and the donee, who accepts the thing and acquires a legal title to it. This donation takes place when the giver is not in any immediate apprehension of death, which distinguishes it from a donatio mortis causa.
   

This entry contains material from Bouvier's Legal Dictionary, a work published in the 1850's.