Also known as: dona · donatio · gift · donation
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A gift.
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Demetrius Douglas asked his lawyer to draft a will leaving a large parcel of land to the lawyer's spouse. The lawyer prepared the instrument without disclosing the relationship rules. A court later invalidated the donum because the recipient was not related to Douglas.
Dwight Dorsey received a valuable painting from his aunt after marriage. The aunt titled the transfer solely in Dorsey's name. Under the statute the donum remained Dorsey's individual property rather than marital property.
Diego Duarte conveyed forty acres to his son Dustin Donovan during life. Duarte left a signed note stating the transfer counted against Donovan's share. At Duarte's death the probate court treated the donum as an advancement reducing Donovan's intestate portion.
Destiny Davis forged documents that caused her uncle to revoke a bequest to Daphne Doyle. Davis then received the property herself. Doyle recovered damages from Davis for the loss of the donum through intentional interference.
Decker Electronics' founder left a will devising Lot 12 in a subdivision he never owned. Extrinsic evidence showed he meant the adjacent Lot 11 that he did own. The court reformed the description so the donum passed the intended parcel.
Dover Bank executive gave his fiancée a custom diamond ring before their wedding. When the couple ended the engagement the donor demanded return of the donum. The court ordered the ring returned because it was given in contemplation of a marriage that never occurred.
A lifetime gift counts as an advancement only when the decedent declares in a contemporaneous writing or the heir acknowledges in writing that the gift is an advancement.
Engagement gifts given in contemplation of marriage must be returned if the marriage does not occur.
A lawyer may not prepare an instrument giving the lawyer or a related person a substantial gift unless the recipient is related to the client.
…Systems 2 (1988); cf. M. Cicero, De Officiis 57 (W. Miller transl. 1913) (“For since the reproductive instinct is by nature’s gift the common possession of all living creatures, the first bond of union is that between husband and wife; the next, that between parents and children; then we find one home, with everything…