ABSTRACT
There are three contexts in which a gift will be perfected: donatio mortis causa, the rule in Strong v Bird (1874), and the doctrine of proprietary estoppel.
The doctrine of donatio mortis causa relates to gifts made during the donor’s lifetime, made in expectation of immediate death, and which are intended to take effect on the donor’s death. For example, the Court of Appeal in Sen v Headley (1991) dealt with a couple who had lived together for ten years but had separated more than 25 years before the man’s death. He died of a terminal illness but before death told his former partner (the claimant) that the house (with unregistered title) was hers and that: ‘You have the keys ... The deeds are in the steel box.’ While it was argued against the claimant that she had always had keys to the house, such that the lifetime gift could have no further effect by way of gift, the claimant was successful in establishing her claim to the house because title deeds were essential in establishing title to unregistered land. There was no retention of dominion in this case because the deceased had not expected that he would return to the house nor that he would have been able to deal with it in any way before his death.
