French Civil Code

A donation inter vivos may only be revoked on the grounds of ingratitude in the following cases: 1° If the donee has made an attempt on the donor’s life; 2° If he has been guilty of abuse, offences or serious insults towards him; 3° If he refuses to provide him with maintenance.

Revocation on the grounds of non-performance of the conditions, or on the grounds of ingratitude, shall never take place by operation of law.

The application for revocation on grounds of ingratitude must be made within one year from the day of the offence imputed by the donor to the donee, or from the day on which the offence could have been known by the donor. This revocation may not be requested by the donor against the heirs of the donee, nor by the heirs of the donor against the donee, unless, in the…

Revocation on the grounds of ingratitude will not prejudice any alienations made by the donee, nor any mortgages or other real charges that he may have imposed on the object of the donation, provided that the whole is prior to the publication, in the real estate file, of the request for revocation. In the event of revocation, the donee will be ordered to return the value of the objects disposed…

Gifts in favour of marriage will not be revocable on grounds of ingratitude.

All donations inter vivos made by persons who had no children or descendants currently living at the time of the donation, of whatever value these donations may be, and on whatever basis they were made, and even if they were mutual or remunerative, even those which would have been made in favour of marriage by other than by the spouses to each other, may be revoked, if the deed of…

This revocation may take place even if the donor’s child was conceived at the time of the donation.

The gift may likewise be revoked, even if the donee has come into possession of the property given and has been left there by the donor since the birth of the child. However, the donee is not obliged to return the fruits he has received, of whatever nature, if not from the day on which the birth of the child or his adoption in plenary form was notified to him…

The property and rights included in the revoked donation revert to the donor’s patrimony, free of all charges and mortgages on the part of the donee, without being able to remain assigned, even subsidiarily, to the legal mortgage of the spouses; this is so even if the donation was made in favour of the donee’s marriage and inserted in the marriage contract.

The death of the donor’s child has no effect on the revocation of gifts provided for in Article 960.