A gift that stumbles on the transfer formalities normally fails outright, and the maxims explain why equity refuses to step in. But the exceptions matter just as much as the rule, and this chapter works through each in turn. It begins with the principle that an incomplete transfer is perfected once the transferor has done everything in their own power — including what that requires for shares, the interest the recipient acquires and whether the gift can still be revoked — before moving to the rule that saves an imperfect lifetime gift where the intended donee later becomes the donor's personal representative. It closes with the donatio mortis causa, its four requirements and the meaning of parting with dominion, and with constitution by self-declaration, where the settlor simply declares himself trustee.
