Title II: Liberalities

All deeds involving gifts inter vivos shall be executed before notaries in the ordinary form of contracts; and minutes thereof shall remain, under penalty of nullity.

In the event of a formal defect, an inter vivos gift cannot be confirmed. It must be redone in the legal form. After the death of the donor, the confirmation or voluntary execution of a donation by the heirs or successors in title of the donor entails their waiver of the right to oppose formal defects or any other cause of nullity.

The gift inter vivos shall not bind the donor, and shall not produce any effect, until the day on which it has been accepted in express terms. The acceptance may be made during the donor’s lifetime by a subsequent and authenticated deed, of which a copy shall remain; but then the gift shall not have any effect, with regard to the donor, until the day on which the deed recording…

If the donee is of full age, the acceptance must be made by him or, in his name, by the person founded on his power of attorney, bearing authority to accept the gift made, or a general power to accept the gifts which may have been or may be made. This power of attorney must be executed before notaries; and a copy of it must be annexed to the minute…

A gift made to an unemancipated minor or an adult under guardianship must be accepted by his or her guardian, in accordance with article 463, under the heading “Of minority, guardianship and emancipation”. However, the father and mother of the unemancipated minor, or other ascendants, even during the lifetime of the father and mother, even though they are not the minor’s guardians, may accept for him or her.

A deaf-mute who can write may accept himself or through a proxy. If he cannot write, the acceptance must be made by a curator appointed for this purpose, following the rules laid down in the title “Of minority, guardianship and emancipation”.