Key Points
A don manuel requires: mutual consent (including the recipient's acceptance), an intention libérale, and an actual physical or dematerialised handover (tradition réelle) of the asset during the donor's lifetime.
A mere promise of a manual gift, even if accepted, is not binding. The gift exists only when the tradition occurs. Immovable property cannot be given by manual gift.
Eligible assets: cash, cheques, bank transfers, listed securities (since Cass. 1993), and most tangible movables. Excluded: immovables, ships, aircraft, SARL/SCI parts sociales (require written instrument), fund-of-commerce as a whole.
A don manuel is not taxable by itself. It becomes taxable in four situations: judicial recognition, declaration in a registered deed, voluntary or compelled disclosure, and rappel fiscal on a subsequent donation or at the donor's death (CGI Art. 757 and 784).
For manual gifts since 31 July 2011, duty is assessed on the higher of: the value at the date of declaration/registration, and the value at the date of the gift (CGI Art. 757). Cash gifts are taxed at nominal amount regardless of subsequent use.
A pacte adjoint (recognition deed drafted after the handover) documents the gift and its terms. It must not contain the recipient's acceptance and must be drafted in the past tense. It does not itself constitute the donation.
Indirect and disguised donations are subject to the same civil and fiscal rules as direct donations, including the reserved share and the rappel fiscal. Neither requires a notarial deed, but both are fully taxable when discovered or disclosed.

Three Categories Without a Notary

French law requires a notarial deed for all donations as a matter of principle (C. civ. Art. 931). Three categories of donation escape this requirement. The don manuel substitutes physical handover for the notarial form. The donation indirecte hides the liberality within a genuine onerous act. The donation déguisée conceals it within a simulated onerous act. All three are legally valid and produce the full civil and fiscal consequences of a donation — including rapport to the succession, reduction for breach of the réserve, and gift duty.

The Don Manuel: Gift by Physical Handover

Three requirements

A don manuel is completed by the physical handover (tradition réelle) of the gifted asset from donor to recipient. Three cumulative elements are required:

  1. Consent of both parties, free of vice. The recipient's acceptance is essential: placing assets in a joint account or a safe rented in the recipient's name does not constitute a manual gift if the recipient was unaware of the assets (Cass. 1ère civ. 22-12-1971 n° 70-13.425). Acceptance may be tacit from the recipient's exercise of ownership rights.
  2. Intention libérale: the handover must be gratuitous. A remittance in payment of a legal obligation is not a gift. A remittance in performance of a moral obligation, or a remunerative gift whose value significantly exceeds the services rendered, constitutes a liberality.
  3. Tradition réelle: an actual physical or dematerialised handover during the donor's lifetime, effecting irrevocable dispossession of the donor.

A promise of a manual gift, even accepted, has no legal force: the donor may revoke it freely until the actual handover occurs.

Eligible assets

Any movable asset susceptible of physical or dematerialised handover may be given by don manuel. Immovable property is excluded entirely.

  • Cash and cheques: cash is the archetypal subject. Delivery of a duly provisioned cheque constitutes tradition of the underlying funds; the donor's death after the cheque is given but before encashment does not invalidate the gift (Cass. 1ère civ. 10-2-1993 n° 91-14.486). A blank cheque (signed but without amount) does not suffice.
  • Bank transfers: a transfer to the recipient's account is a valid don manuel by dematerialised tradition (Cass. 1ère civ. 12-7-1966). The gift is perfected when the credit appears in the recipient's account — not when the transfer order is given. A transfer to a joint account of which the donor is a co-holder does not constitute a don manuel, since the donor retains the ability to withdraw the funds (Cass. 1ère civ. 17-4-1985 n° 83-16.939).
  • Listed securities: transfer of listed securities between accounts is a valid dematerialised don manuel, with tradition occurring by the credit entry in the recipient's securities account (Cass. 1ère civ. 27-10-1993 n° 91-13.946; Cass. com. 19-5-1998 n° 96-16.252). Unlisted parts sociales of a SARL, SCI, or SNC cannot be given by don manuel because their transfer requires a written instrument (CA Paris 5-6-2019 n° 17/16577).
  • Other tangible movables: jewellery, artwork, furniture, vehicles. Physical displacement to the recipient is necessary. Furniture that remains at the donor's home does not qualify (Cass. 1ère civ. 10-10-2012 n° 10-28.363).
  • Excluded: ships and aircraft (administrative formalities); parts sociales requiring a written instrument; fund-of-commerce as a whole (an intangible universality).

Irrevocability: the dispossession requirement

The tradition must effect a definitive and irrevocable dispossession of the donor (Cass. 1ère civ. 10-10-2012 n° 10-28.363). Where the donor retains practical control — for example, by holding a power of attorney over the recipient's account — the tradition is not irrevocable and the don manuel fails (Cass. 1ère civ. 17-4-1985; Cass. 1ère civ. 19-11-1996 n° 95-10.242). The tradition must occur during the donor's lifetime. A cheque placed in a safe and discovered only after the donor's death is not a valid don manuel (Cass. 1ère civ. 3-4-2002 n° 99-20.527). Tradition may alternatively occur by interversion of title: where the recipient already holds the asset under a loan, deposit, or mandate, a fresh agreement to transfer ownership gratuitously completes the don manuel without further physical movement (Cass. 1ère civ. 11-6-1996 n° 94-16.689).

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Gifts by Spouses under Community of Property

Spouses under a community matrimonial regime may not individually donate community assets without the other spouse's consent (C. civ. Art. 1422). Cash gifts from salary and employment income, before those funds are saved into the community, may be made by each spouse individually (C. civ. Art. 223; Cass. 1ère civ. 29-2-1984 n° 82-15.712; Cass. 1ère civ. 20-11-2019 n° 16-15.867). A spouse who hands over tangible movables they personally hold is presumed by third parties to have the power to do so (C. civ. Art. 222).

Proof of the Don Manuel

Where the recipient is in possession of the asset, they benefit from the rule that possession of a movable constitutes title (C. civ. Art. 2276, al. 1; C. mon. fin. Art. L 211-16 for financial instruments). This creates a rebuttable presumption of manual gift: the person disputing the gift must prove either that the possession is precarious (loan or deposit) or vitiated by clandestinity or equivocation. Cohabitation alone does not render possession equivocal (Cass. 1ère civ. 21-2-2006 n° 04-19.667).

Where the donor seeks to prove a gift — for example, to obtain revocation for ingratitude — they must provide written evidence if the sum exceeds €1,500 (C. civ. Art. 1359), unless they can demonstrate a moral impossibility of obtaining a written record or produce a commencement of written proof (C. civ. Art. 1360–1362). Third parties and the tax authority may prove the manual gift by any means, including circumstances and presumptions (Cass. 1ère civ. 11-7-1984 n° 83-12.312).

The Pacte Adjoint

A pacte adjoint (also called an acte de reconnaissance de don manuel) is a document executed after the handover that records the existence, date, amount, and terms of the manual gift. It serves a purely evidential function: it does not itself constitute the donation. The deed may be in notarial or private-signature form.

Critical drafting rules: the pacte adjoint must not contain the recipient's acceptance (which would make it a donation deed, null for lack of notarial form); must be drafted in the past tense to reflect an already-completed gift; and should be titled unambiguously as a recognition of a gift already made. The pacte may record: a dispense de rapport (making the gift hors part successorale); agreed valuation for rapport purposes; charges; a clause de retour conventionnel; a reservation of usufruct or bare ownership; and the donor's assumption of gift duties.

Fiscal Regime of the Don Manuel

A manual gift is not taxable by itself. Gift duty arises in only four situations (CGI Art. 757 and 784):

Trigger 1
Judicial Recognition

Any court decision that recognises the existence of the manual gift, whether in its operative part or its reasoning (Cass. com. 12-10-2010 n° 09-70.337). Includes a decision dismissing a repayment claim where the defendant relied on the gift as their defence (Cass. com. 21-2-2012 n° 10-27.914). Administrative court decisions also count (Cass. com. 26-9-2018 n° 16-28.410).

Trigger 2
Declaration in a Registered Deed

Any mention of the gift in a deed submitted to registration, whatever its nature. Includes declarations in a succession deed, a deed of partition, or any other registered instrument where the gift is referred to.

Trigger 3
Voluntary or Compelled Disclosure

Voluntary: the recipient may declare the gift at once (imprimé 2735) or, if the gift exceeds €15,000, defer declaration to the month following the donor's death (imprimé 2734 — deferral locks in the abatements as at the date of declaration).

Compelled: revelation in response to a tax inquiry (gifts >€15,000) triggers immediate declaration within one month (Cass. com. 4-3-2020 n° 18-11.120).

Trigger 4 — Most Common
Rappel Fiscal

Where the recipient inherits from the donor or receives a new donation from the same donor within 15 years, all prior manual gifts are fiscally recalled and added to the taxable base. At this stage, duties are succession duties (not gift duties), and donation-specific abatements do not apply (Cass. com. 31-3-2004 n° 02-10.578).

Valuation: the higher-of rule (post-31 July 2011)

For manual gifts made since 31 July 2011, duty is assessed on the higher of: the value of the gifted asset at the date of declaration or registration, and the value at the date of the gift (CGI Art. 757, al. 1). For cash gifts, duty is assessed on the nominal amount given, regardless of how the funds were subsequently used (Cass. com. 20-10-1998 n° 96-20.960). The abatements and tariffs applied are those in force at the date of declaration — except where the donor has died and the gift is recalled as succession property, in which case succession abatements apply.

Practical Tip: Early Voluntary Declaration

For gifts of cash or quickly appreciating assets, early voluntary declaration offers several advantages: the tax base is locked at a fixed value; the 15-year period for rappel fiscal starts running immediately; and gifts of qualifying cash sums (€31,865 per beneficiary per 15 years) are definitively exempt if declared within the prescribed period (CGI Art. 790 G). Delaying disclosure risks a higher taxable value if assets appreciate, and may expose the recipient to compelled disclosure at a higher rate.

Indirect and Disguised Donations

Donation indirecte

An indirect donation is a transaction that, without simulation, produces a gratuitous result as a secondary consequence of an otherwise onerous act. The most common examples are: a sale at a knowingly reduced price (Cass. 1ère civ. 21-10-2015 n° 14-24.926); renunciation of an inheritance in favour of co-heirs; assumption of another person's debt; a gratuitous guarantee; and payment of another person's charges or taxes. The indirect donation is valid and subject to the full donation regime, including rapport, reduction, and gift duty. It does not require a notarial deed because it is accomplished through the underlying onerous act.

Donation déguisée

A disguised donation is a liberality concealed beneath the form of an onerous act — most often a simulated sale at a fictitious price. The apparent purchaser pays nothing; the apparent seller intends to give. Unlike the indirect donation, the onerous transaction is entirely simulated. Disguised donations are valid in principle (simulation is not itself a cause of nullity, unless used to circumvent a prohibition). They are subject to full donation rules and gift duty. Family members may challenge the act on the basis that it was a disguised liberality subject to rapport and reduction.

Why Formalism Matters

The three informal donation categories are legally valid but practically risky. Disputes about whether a transfer was a gift or a loan — or whether a "sale" was really a gift — are among the most common sources of succession litigation in French courts. A pacte adjoint for a manual gift, or a notarial deed for larger transfers, costs little and avoids enormous uncertainty. The temptation to avoid gift duty by structuring an informal gift almost always creates more risk than it saves.

Making a Significant Gift?

Our guides cover structuring lifetime gifts — manual, notarial, or within a donation-partage — to achieve the intended outcome in both civil and fiscal terms under French law.

Book a Consultation

This article is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The fiscal rules described apply to manual gifts as at the date of publication and are subject to legislative change. Readers should consult a qualified French lawyer and tax adviser before making any significant gift.