Donation

Donation was originally a valid cause for delivery but not a proper way of acquiring property. If Titius gave a ring to Caius, the latter became owner through delivery. The mere promise of Titius to deliver the ring did not transfer ownership.

Property law 153 generosity - any disposition for the benefit of another person, for which recompense was not expected. Such a disposition could take different forms: transfer of ownership, constitution of a predial servitude or a usufruct over property belonging to the donor, or release of a debtor from his obligation toward the donor (acceptilatio), among other things.

The object of the donation could be anything of value, but the payment of a debt not enforceable by law (e.g., the fulfillment of a natural obligation) was not properly a donation. The law required that the donor had the intention to make a donation (animus donandi) and that the donee accepted it. Emperor Justinian eventually considered donation a way of acquiring property (Inst. 2.7pr.), probably since he considered the agreement to make a gift an auton­omous, effective, and enforceable legal act (C.J. 8.53.25).

Donations could produce an immediate effect (inter vivos) or an effect only upon the death of the donor (mortis causa). The lex Cincia (204 bce) imposed restrictions on the amount of donations inter vivos, except when the donor was closely related to the donee. The complicated system of the lex Cincia was replaced in the late Empire by a system of registrations of all donations. Unlike donations inter vivos, which were in principle irrevocable, donations on contemplation of death were unilaterally revocable by the donor until his death. They were also automatically revoked by the law where the donor became insolvent or the donee predeceased him. Later, donations mortis causa would be largely assimilated to legacies (Inst. 2.7.1)