Section — Prümmer, Manuale Theologiae Moralis
2. On Donation Inter Vivos and in Prospect of Death
272. A donation inter vivos immediately and absolutely transfers ownership, at least radical ownership, to the donee. Everything said in the preceding paragraph applies to it. But a donation in prospect of death indeed immediately transfers ownership to the donee, yet not absolutely, but only if the donor has not revoked the donation before death. It therefore confers a right in the thing, although a conditional one. A donation in prospect of death differs somewhat from testamentary legacies, because the latter confer only a right to the thing and depend entirely upon the validity of the testament; on the contrary, a donation in prospect of death is valid even if a testament that may have been made is wholly invalid. In most modern laws, donations in prospect of death, insofar as they are distinct from testamentary legacies, are no longer recognized.30 Wherever they are still recognized, the civil law of that region is to be followed.31
30 Cf. Swiss Code of Obligations art. 245; Staudinger, Kommentar zum Bürgerlichen Gesetzbuch I, 355; German Civil Code § 2301. Authors do not agree in assigning everything required for a true donation in prospect of death according to ancient Roman law. Lugo discusses this matter quite clearly (De iust. et iure disp. 24, sect. 15, n. 318), saying: "A donation in prospect of death is that by which something is delivered or promised so that, if the donor's death occurs before the donee's death, it becomes irrevocably the property of him to whom it is given.... Sometimes this donation begins with delivery, by which the donor transfers ownership to the donee, but revocably unless he confirms it by death; hence, in whatever way the donation is revoked, both the donated thing and all fruits received from it must be restored.... Sometimes, however, it begins from a promise alone without delivery; and then it is not valid unless acceptance by the donee follows." Cf. H. Vering, Geschichte und Pandekten des römischen und heutigen gemeinen Privatrechts² § 11.
31 Cf. Austrian Civil Code § 956.