The starting point is strict: if a donor sets out to make a gift but never completes the transfer, the gift simply fails and the intended recipient gets nothing. Equity will not step in to help. But that rule has limits — and a solicitor advising on lifetime gifts, deathbed instructions or the administration of an estate needs to know precisely when a flawed gift can still take effect. Getting this right decides who actually owns the property.
This lesson builds from the rule itself to each recognised exception:
- The General Rule — why an incomplete transfer normally fails and the maxims behind it.
- The 'Everything in Their Power' Principle — when a transfer is saved because the donor did all that was personally required of them.
- Donee Becomes Personal Representative — how an unfinished gift can be perfected when the intended recipient later administers the donor's estate.
- Donatio Mortis Causa (Deathbed Gift) — when a gift made in contemplation of death takes effect on death.
- Constitution by Self-Declaration — when a settlor who already holds legal title can declare a trust without any further transfer.
By the end, you'll be able to take a half-completed gift and say with confidence whether it stands or fails — and why.