French Civil Code

It will be similarly null and void if it was made on the condition of discharging debts or charges other than those existing at the time of the gift or which would be expressed either in the deed of gift or in the statement which should be annexed to it.

In the event that the donor has reserved the freedom to dispose of an instrument included in the donation or of a fixed sum out of the donated property, if he dies without having disposed of it, the said instrument or the said sum shall belong to the donor’s heirs, notwithstanding any clauses and stipulations to the contrary.

The four preceding articles do not apply to donations referred to in Chapters VIII and IX of this Title.

Any deed of gift of movable effects shall be valid only for those effects of which an estimated statement, signed by the donor and the donee, or by those accepting for him, shall have been annexed to the minute of the gift.

The donor is permitted to make the reserve for his own benefit or to dispose, for the benefit of another, of the enjoyment or usufruct of the movable or immovable property donated.

Where the gift of movable effects has been made with reservation of usufruct, the donee shall be bound, on the expiry of the usufruct, to take the effects given which are in kind, in the condition in which they are; and he shall have action against the donor or his heirs, by reason of the non-existent objects, up to the value given to them in the appraised statement.

The donor may stipulate the right of return of the donated objects either for the case of the predecease of the donee alone, or for the case of the predecease of the donee and his descendants. This right may only be stipulated for the benefit of the donor alone.

The effect of the right of return is to cancel all disposals of the property and rights given, and to cause such property and rights to revert to the donor, free of all encumbrances and mortgages, except for the legal mortgage of the spouses if the other property of the donee spouse is not sufficient to accomplish this return and the gift was made to him by the marriage contract…