DONATIO PERFICITUR - The Law Mind Legal Dictionary

DONATIO PERFICITURAuthored

The Law Mind • 643 words

Definition

A Latin maxim of property and gift law meaning, literally, "a gift is perfected" or "a gift is completed." The full form of the maxim is typically rendered as donatio perficitur possessione accipientis — "a gift is perfected by the possession of the receiver." The principle holds that a gift is not legally complete at the moment of the donor's intent or promise, but only upon actual delivery to and acceptance by the donee. Until possession passes, the donor retains the legal right to revoke.

The maxim encapsulates the foundational requirement in the law of gifts that delivery is not a mere formality but the operative act by which the gift becomes irrevocable. Intent alone is insufficient; the legal transfer is consummated only when the donee acquires possession.

Why It Matters in Research

This maxim appears in historical legal sources as a compressed statement of what modern law analyzes as the delivery requirement in gift doctrine. Researchers working with older cases or treatises will encounter it as a stand-alone proposition cited in lieu of extended doctrinal analysis — courts invoked it as settled authority rather than explaining the underlying rule.

The maxim is also important as a bridge term. It connects Roman civil law inheritance of gift doctrine to English common law treatment, and researchers tracing the development of inter vivos gift requirements across jurisdictions will find it cited in both civilian and common law sources. Its presence in a source signals that the surrounding discussion is engaging with the civil law tradition, which distinguishes between donatio inter vivos and donatio mortis causa — a distinction that carries significantly different delivery and revocability rules.

The practical trap for modern researchers is assuming that historical sources using this maxim apply the same delivery standard as contemporary courts. The historical requirement was often understood as requiring manual, physical delivery (traditio). Modern doctrine has considerably expanded acceptable forms of delivery — constructive and symbolic delivery are now widely recognized — but older sources invoking donatio perficitur may be addressing or rejecting those extensions.

Historical Dictionary Support

Black's Law Dictionary (2nd Ed.) places the maxim within a broader treatment of donatio and its civil law classifications. The surrounding text distinguishes donatio inter vivos from donatio mortis causa, and references Blackstone's Commentaries, Littleton, and Cruise's Digest — indicating that by the time of Black's compilation, the maxim was treated as a well-settled cross-jurisdictional principle rooted in classical sources rather than a contested proposition.

The civil law foundation of the maxim is significant. The distinction between the civil law's treatment of gift perfection and the English common law's grafting of that doctrine onto its own property framework created interpretive complexity that historical dictionaries acknowledge but do not always resolve. Black's entry on donatio generally notes the civil law origin of the inter vivos / mortis causa classification, confirming that donatio perficitur belongs to that inherited tradition.

What historical sources largely omit is any treatment of constructive or symbolic delivery as satisfying the maxim — that development came primarily through later case law and would not be reflected in sources contemporary with the maxim's peak citation frequency.

Jurisdictional Note

The maxim is rooted in the civil law tradition and was received into both English common law and American law through equity and property doctrine. American courts across jurisdictions apply the underlying delivery requirement, though the acceptable forms of delivery vary and are governed by state law. Civil law jurisdictions (including Louisiana) may apply the principle through an independent civilian doctrinal lineage rather than through the common law reception.

DONATIO PERFICITURmain

Black's Law Dictionary (2nd Ed.) • 1910

lied to the conveyance of estates tail. 2 Bi. omm. 316; Littleton, § 59; West, Symb. § 254; 4 Cruise, Dig. 51. Classification. By the civil law (adopted into the English and American law) donations are either inter vivos (between living . persons) or mortss causa (in anticipation of death.) As to these forms, see infra. A donatio or gift as between living persons is called donatio mera or pura when it is a simple gift without compulsion or consideration, that is, resting solely on the generosity of the donor, as in the case of most charitable gifts. It is. called donatio remuneratoria when given as a reward for past services, but still not under any legal compulsion, as in the case of pensions and Jand-grants, It is called donatio sub modo (or modalis) when given for the attainment of some special object or on condition that the donee shall do something not specially for the benefit of the donor, as ‘in the case of the endowment of hospitals, colleges, etc., coupled with the condition that they shall be established and maintained. Mackeld. Rom. w, § ; Fisk v. Mores, 48 Tex. 340; Noe v. Card, 14 Cal. 576. The following terms are also used: Donatto conditionalis, a conditional gift; donatio relata, a gift made with reference to some service already ‘ done, (Fisk v. Flores, 43 Tex. 340;) donatio stricta et coarctura, a restricted gift, as an estate tail. —Donatio inofficiosa. An inofficious (undutiful) sift; a gift of so great a part of the donor’s property that the birthright portion of his heirs is diminished. Mackeld. Rom. Law, § 469. —Donatio inter vivos. <A gift between the living. The ordinary kind of gift by one per son to another. ent, Comm. 438; 2 Steph. mm. 102. A term derived from the civil law. Inst. 2, 7, 2. A donation inter vivos (between living persons) is an act by which the donee divests himself at present and irrevocably of the thing given in favor of the donee who accepts it. Civ. Code La. art. 1468.—Donatioe mortis causa. <A gift made by a person in sickness, who, apprehending his dissolution near, delivers, or causes to be delivered, to another the possession of any personal goods, to keep as his own in case of the donor’s decease. 2 Bl. Comm. 514. The civil law defines it to be a gift under apprehension of death; as when anything is given upon condition that, ‘if the donor dies, the donee shall possess it absolutely, or return it if the donor should survive or should repent of having made the gift, or if the donee should die before the donor. Adams vy. Nicholas, I Miles (Pa.) 109-117. A gift in view of death is one which is made ip contemplation, fear, or peril of death, and with intent that it shall take effect_only in case of the death of the giver. Civ. Code Cal. § 1149. A donation mortis causa (in prospect of death) is an act to take effect when the donor shall no longer exist, by which he disposes of the whole or a part of his property, and which is irrevocable. Civ. Code La. art. 1469. —Donatio propter nuptias. A _ gift on account of marriage. In Roman law, the bridegroom’s gift to the bride in antipicatio of marriage and to secure her dos was cal “donatio ante nuptias,;” but by an_ ordinance of Justinian such gift might be made after as well as before marriage, and in that case {t was called “donatio propter nuptias.” Mackeld. Rom. Law, § 572. Donatio non presumitur. A gift is not presumed. Jenk. Cent. 109. ; Donatio perficitur possessione accipientis. A gift is perfected [made complete} by the possession of the receiver. Jenk. Cent. 109, case 9. A gift is incomplete until possession is delivered. 2 Kent, Comm. 438.

Explore the full Law Mind legal research platform.

Subscribe Encyclopedia Sign In