Implicit Conditions in Donation Contracts

According to the provisions of Article 465 of the Civil Code 2005, a gift contract for property is an agreement between the parties whereby the donor transfers their property and ownership rights to the donee without requiring compensation, and the donee agrees to receive the property.

For gift contracts with conditions, as stipulated in Article 470, Civil Code 2005:

- The donor may require the donee to perform one or more civil obligations before or after the gift. The conditions for the gift must not be contrary to law or social ethics.- In the event that the obligations must be performed before the gift and if the donee has completed the obligations but the donor does not transfer the property, the donor must compensate for the obligations that the donee has performed.- In the event that the obligations must be performed after the gift and if the donee does not perform, the donor has the right to reclaim the property and demand compensation for damages.

The conditional gift contract as stipulated above is a real contract, involving a donor, a donee, conditions, and the obligation to fulfill those conditions. However, in some cases where no real contract arises, it is still considered that a gift contract with conditions exists if the intention to gift is not explicitly mentioned - this is known as an implied condition.

For example:

Nam's family gives the bride some jewelry during the engagement ceremony, but later on, the marriage does not take place. Can Nam's family reclaim that property?

This is a conditional gift contract. Although Nam's family did not explicitly mention any conditions when giving the property to the bride, it is understood that Nam's family only gave the property on the condition that the bride would become Nam's daughter-in-law. The gift contract is only completed when the condition is fulfilled. If the condition of becoming a daughter-in-law is not fulfilled, the gifted property does not legally belong to the bride.

According to the provisions of Article 256 of the Civil Code 2005:

"The owner, lawful possessor has the right to request the person unlawfully possessing, using, or benefiting from the property to return the property that belongs to their lawful ownership or possession."

Thus, Nam's family has the right to reclaim the gifted property in accordance with the law.

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