LA REVOCACIÓN DE LAS DONACIONES.

Abstract

A gift is an act of liberality whereby a person under no obligation to do so furnishes someone else with some advantage or benefit free of charge, without expecting anything in exchange, for there is a total absence of compensation by the beneficiary party. The act entails an impoverishment of the assets of the donor and accordingly an enrichment of the donee, whose assets are increased without any balancing detriment. The contract of gift is concluded with the acceptance of the gift by the donee, giving rise to the corresponding irrevocability of the gift, save in certain events that the Civil Code itself objectively and precisely specifies, which events, had they been known by the donor, would have caused the act of liberality not to have been performed. This study attempts to analyse the revocation of gifts on the particular grounds set by the Civil Code. First there is a non-exhaustive look at the concept, features and nature of gifts. This is followed by the main body of the analysis, which is based on a study of what is meant by «revocation of gifts», the legal grounds on which a gift may be revoked (i.e., supervening or surviving children, ingratitude or failure to do as charged), the legal regime for revocation, the events in which it can be exercised and its effects. For that purpose, the article discusses the subject in the light of not only doctrine, but also case law, with special reference to the most recent case law.