Also known as: gift inter vivos · inter vivos gift · inter vivos gifts
Written by attorneys — see sources below.
A gratuitous transfer of personal property made voluntarily by a living donor to a donee without consideration. The transfer must be presently effective upon delivery and acceptance rather than taking effect at a future time or upon death.
Martin executed a will leaving his nephew Leo a $200,000 cash devise. Years later Martin transferred marketable securities worth $200,000 into a brokerage account in Leo's name and included a signed memo stating the investment stood in place of the inheritance. After Martin's death the personal representative treated the securities as satisfying the cash devise in full.
Giselle Guerrero attempted to give her antique desk to her nephew Gregory Gates by signing a deed of gift but never physically delivered the desk or a key to it. After Giselle's death Gregory claimed the desk as an inter vivos gift, but the court held that the absence of delivery prevented the transfer from taking effect.
Open the case page for the full write-up.
View caseDonative intent, delivery that transfers ownership, and acceptance by the donee are required. Acceptance is presumed for valuable gifts but can be defeated by an express refusal.
The gift adeems the devise by satisfaction in whole or in part when the testator indicates in a contemporaneous writing that the gift is to operate in that manner or the devisee acknowledges the same in writing.
Supporting sources
A devisee's written acknowledgment that the gift operates in satisfaction satisfies the requirement even without a testator writing, provided the acknowledgment is made in connection with the transfer.
Supporting sources
…Hecht a first amended complaint for wrongful death and intentional infliction of emotional distress, wherein they alleged, inter alia, that their father, who had been unemployed for some time, became deeply depressed and began to seriously contemplate suicide about September 1, 1991; for six weeks before his death,…