What is donation in the land sector?
A donation is an act by which you transfer ownership of property to another person during your lifetime, free of charge.
You can make a gift to anyone you want and the person must accept it.
However, the property given must not exceed the share reserved for some of your heirs.
The donation can be made freely or, in some cases, before a notary. In the case of land, the deed must be done before a notary.
The importance of the notary’s direct intervention in the context of the donation lies in the fact that this act dispossesses one party in favour of the other. It must therefore be well supervised.
References
CFD = Land and Property Code, CBPF = Beninese Code of Persons and the Family
Property is acquired and transmitted by succession, donation, purchase, will and exchange.
Property may be transferred by donation in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Code, the Code of Persons and the Family and other texts in force.
An inter vivos gift is an act by which the donor transfers the ownership of a property free of charge and irrevocably to the donee who accepts it.
To make a donation inter vivos or through a will, one must be of sound mind.
Any person may dispose of and receive, either by donation inter vivos or by will, except for those who are declared incapable by law. Capacity is assessed, for the donor or testator, on the day of the donation or bequest; for the beneficiary, on the day of acceptance.
Any contract for the donation of property or real estate rights must be executed before a notary in the ordinary form of contracts.