Definition
Giving in payment is a civil law doctrine, operative primarily in Louisiana, by which a debtor satisfies an existing monetary obligation by transferring property — movable or immovable — to the creditor in lieu of a cash payment. The creditor must accept the property as full or partial discharge of the debt; the transaction is not complete without that acceptance. The doctrine is the common law equivalent of a dation en paiement (the French source phrase), and it functions analogously to an accord and satisfaction, but with specific civilian rules governing its formation and effect.
The mechanism requires three elements to operate: (1) an existing, valid debt; (2) an agreement between debtor and creditor to substitute property for money; and (3) actual delivery of the property. Because acceptance is essential, the creditor cannot be compelled to receive property instead of money — the arrangement is always consensual.
Common Language
This term has no ordinary English counterpart. "Giving in payment" is pure legal and civilian terminology, derived directly from the French dation en paiement. A lay reader encountering it for the first time might guess it means nothing more than making a payment, which is precisely the misreading to avoid — the phrase signals a non-monetary substitution, not payment in the ordinary sense.
Common Confusion
Giving in payment is frequently compared to, and sometimes conflated with, accord and satisfaction. In the common law system, accord and satisfaction describes an agreement to accept something different from what was originally owed, followed by performance. The civilian doctrine of giving in payment is structurally similar but operates within a distinct legal framework: it requires actual delivery (not mere agreement) to extinguish the obligation, and it carries specific rules about warranty of title that parallel those in a sale. A creditor who accepts property under a giving in payment arrangement may have recourse if title proves defective, much as a buyer would in a purchase transaction. This warranty dimension is often absent from how accord and satisfaction is discussed in common law jurisdictions.
Why It Matters in Research
The primary research trap is jurisdictional: giving in payment is a creature of Louisiana civil law. Researchers working in common law jurisdictions who encounter this term in older legal materials — particularly in commercial, debt, or property contexts — should immediately recognize that the document likely has a Louisiana nexus or was written by a civilian-trained practitioner drawing on French or Spanish legal tradition.
The French phrase dation en paiement appears interchangeably with the English translation in Louisiana sources. Researchers searching historical Louisiana materials should run both terms, as well as variant spellings (dation en payment, dation in payment). Pre-codification Louisiana sources may use the French phrase exclusively.
The doctrine's treatment has evolved in Louisiana jurisprudence regarding when the obligation is actually extinguished: at agreement or at delivery. This matters in insolvency and preference contexts — if a debtor transfers property to a creditor shortly before bankruptcy, the characterization of the transaction (giving in payment vs. sale vs. security interest) determines whether a trustee can avoid it as a preferential transfer. Researchers examining Louisiana insolvency, successions, or secured transactions cases should be alert to this characterization issue.
The encyclopedia cross-references returned (estimated tax payments, foster care payments) are not relevant to this term.
Historical Dictionary Support
Black's Law Dictionary (both editions) and Bouvier's Law Dictionary are in full agreement on the core definition: giving in payment involves the delivery and acceptance of movable or immovable property in satisfaction of a debt otherwise payable in money. All three sources anchor the doctrine to Louisiana law and trace it to the French dation en paiement.
Black's (both editions) specifically cross-references Civil Code of Louisiana art. 2655, which governed the doctrine at the time those editions were compiled. Bouvier distinguishes movable from immovable property explicitly, a useful reminder that the doctrine covers both personal and real property — a point sometimes missed by researchers who associate it primarily with real estate transactions.
What the historical dictionaries do not address: the warranty consequences of a giving in payment, the interaction with Louisiana's law of obligations regarding novation (giving in payment is not technically a novation, though it similarly extinguishes the original debt), and the modern treatment under Louisiana's revised civil code. Researchers relying solely on these sources for current Louisiana law should verify against the current Civil Code provisions and subsequent jurisprudence.
Jurisdictional Note
Giving in payment is a doctrine of Louisiana civil law with no direct equivalent in common law states. In common law jurisdictions, the closest functional analog is accord and satisfaction, but the rules of formation, delivery, and warranty differ materially. Researchers in mixed or conflict-of-laws situations should not assume that principles from one system translate cleanly into the other.