Art. 578 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation - a legal norm that defines cases of cancellation of an agreement concluded between participants in a civil turnover during the gratuitous alienation of any property. In other words, this article establishes the rules by which a deed of gift can be canceled.
What is a gift contract?
Under the aforementioned agreement, one party gives the property to the other certain property. Parties to this agreement can be not only citizens, but also organizations. The property that the donor disposes of must be in his possession, only in this case the actions taken can be qualified as a gift.
In general, this type of civil transaction is similar to other contracts under which property is alienated from one person to another. However, a significant difference between the agreement in question is that it has a gratuitous nature - the donor does not receive absolutely any benefit from the transfer of things. If, after the transaction and because of it, the donor has some rights or tangible and intangible benefits appear , then it cannot be considered a gift. In such cases, if any interested person goes to court, the transaction may be invalidated on the grounds of pretense.
Cancellation of agreement
If you read art. 578 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation with comments, you can clearly understand under what circumstances a person who donated any property can return it back by canceling the agreement.
The first reason for this, called by the legislator, is harm to the donor. In this case, the culprit of this act should be exactly the person who received the property as a gift. However, judicial practice under Art. 578 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation shows that cancellation of the gift is also possible if the donee did not commit the crime against the donor, but through third parties.
For example, by the verdict of the Oktyabrsky District Court of Novosibirsk dated December 13, 2015, citizen N. was convicted of a crime of complicity in causing moderate damage to the health of citizen I. Citizen N. himself did not inflict bodily harm on citizen I., but organized the commission of this crime. Subsequently, I., who had previously presented N. his apartment, through a civil lawsuit, canceled the deed of gift and returned the apartment to himself. The basis was the above sentence.
Health damage can be caused not only to the donor, but also to members of his family, which is important in some cases.
Gift item of value to the donor
The second ground on which the gift contract can be terminated, and the parties are brought to their original position, is the simultaneous existence of the following circumstances:
- An object that a citizen donated to the other party to the contract is a valuable thing for the donor.
- The person who accepted the gift is treated with it without due care, as a result of which there is a possibility of loss or damage to the gift.
This basis must be confirmed by the donor. In court, when filing a lawsuit, he will be obliged to prove that the donated thing is really of great value to him. Moreover, such a value may not be material, but spiritual. For example, a person can give a picture, the cost of which is quite low, but due to the fact that he got this picture from a loved one, it can be important for him.
Cancellation clause in agreement
The third basis under Art. 578 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, according to which cancellation of the contract is possible, it is considered to include in it the condition that the gift is returned to the donor if the person who received the gift dies before it.
This condition is not used so often in the agreements concluded, and this is due to the fact that, as a rule, gift agreements are made between close people. Therefore, the inclusion of such a condition is quite difficult from a moral point of view.
However, given this condition and upon its occurrence, the contract can be terminated, and the subject of donation returned. For this to happen, the donated thing must still be with the deceased. If he made her alienation to death, then the cancellation of the agreement will be impossible.
Cancellation of a contract of donation of a share in a residential building
A separate view is the situation when it is necessary to terminate the agreement on donating a share in an apartment or house. Often, initiators of lawsuits with similar claims are not the parties to the agreement, but the co-owners of real estate.
In accordance with the requirements of the Civil Code, if the owner of a share wishes to sell it, he is obliged first of all to offer the transaction to other co-owners. Only in case of their refusal will he be entitled to sell the share to third parties. Such a requirement is not imposed on gift transactions, therefore, the owners of a share resort to the fact that they do not conclude a purchase and sale agreement, but a donation agreement with a third party. In fact, it is a reimbursable contract, and the gift is subsequently recognized through the court by interested parties as a sham transaction.