Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Ownership definition

What does Ownership mean? In legal practice, ownership describes who has the bundle of rights over property: to possess, use, enjoy income, exclude others, transfer, or charge it, subject to law and third‑party rights (such as easements/servitudes, leases and security interests). It is a descriptive expression used across contexts (land, goods, shares, intellectual property), rather than a single statutory definition, though related concepts are defined in legislation and case law (for example, beneficial ownership in anti‑money laundering/PSC regimes and land registration rules). Across England & Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland, lawyers commonly distinguish legal ownership (title shown on a register, deed or share register) from...

Lifetime Gifts and Trusts: Validity, Formalities for Land, Shares and Chattels, IHT Planning, and Solicitors’ Duties

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Practice notes

A lifetime gift

A lifetime gift is a gratuitous shift of Ownership in any property between living people, made without an expectation of death. By contrast, a gift made in contemplation of death may amount to a deathbed gift, or Donatio mortis causa. See Practice Note: Devolution of assets and the need for a grant—Deathbed gifts. For a lifetime gift to be effective, it is not necessary for legal title to pass to the recipient. The donor can make a perfect gift of the beneficial interest while retaining the legal estate (constituting a trust). The hallmark of a gift, as opposed to another form of transfer, is the absence of consideration.

A lifetime gift can be made by:

deed or another instrument in writing
Delivery, where the subject-matter is capable of delivery
declaration of trust, which is the equitable counterpart of a gift

No gift arises if the donor lacks capacity to give and/or the donee lacks capacity to receive. For guidance on capacity to make gifts, see Practice Note: Capacity to make gifts, settle property and contract...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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