Deathbed gifts in rude health: the recent case of Vallée v Birchwood

In this article, William Moffett looks at a recent case of a donatio mortis causa concerning unregistered land. The land in question was the donor’s home, in which the donor continued to live until his death over four months after the gift was made. The writer considers the significance of the case, and also takes the opportunity to revisit the anomalous doctrine of deathbed gifts more generally: its development in various authorities, the difficulties it presents conceptually and in practice, its justification, and some possible developments in the future.