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Donatio Mortis Causa

The document discusses the validity of gifts made in contemplation of death, known as donatio mortis causa. It examines cases where the donor died of a different cause than anticipated, finding the gifts remained valid so long as the condition causing their contemplation of death continued until death. A more recent case found no valid donatio mortis causa as the donor recovered from their initial condition and survived longer than anticipated.

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Kennedy Jose
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121 views1 page

Donatio Mortis Causa

The document discusses the validity of gifts made in contemplation of death, known as donatio mortis causa. It examines cases where the donor died of a different cause than anticipated, finding the gifts remained valid so long as the condition causing their contemplation of death continued until death. A more recent case found no valid donatio mortis causa as the donor recovered from their initial condition and survived longer than anticipated.

Uploaded by

Kennedy Jose
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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It is generally irrelevant that the donor dies from some cause other than the one within their

contemplation so long as the condition from which the deceased thought he was dying continued up to
the date of the donor’s death. Section 31(e) provides that the gift would be valid if the person making
the gift dies from any cause without having survived the illness or danger. Wilkes v Allington [1931] 2 Ch
104.This condition was deemed not even though the deceased thought he was going to die of cancer
but in fact died of double pneumonia. The gift would fail if the donor survives the contemplated illness
or danger but dies of a different cause.

In the historic case of Wilkes v Allington [1931], this requirement was satisfied because, at the time of
the gift, the donor knew that he had cancer and believed himself to be a ‘doomed man’: he did not
know exactly how long he had to live but understood that he was likely to die soon. A month later, he
died from pneumonia, an unrelated illness. The court held that the gift was valid because it was not
conditional on his death from the particular cause contemplated by him. It therefore, does not matter
whether the cause of death that the Donor anticipates is actually what kills them.

Further, in the recent case of Keeling v Keeling [2017], the Defendant of this matter and the donee,
alleged that a valid donatio mortis causa was made because the donor suffered a heart attack and told
him that she wanted him to have the house. The donor passed the donee the keys and the title deeds to
the house. The court decided that there was no donatio mortis causa because the requirements had not
been satisfied in relation to the donor’s contemplation of death. The judge said, “In May 2012 Ellen [the
donor] had just had her first heart attack but was not hospitalised. She survived a further six months.
She did not in, May 2012, "have good reason to anticipate death from an identified cause." In any event,
any "contemplated" death in May did not occur: she recovered, so any gift would have lapsed.".

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