A, Critically explain an account for the equitable maxim equity will Essay

A, Critically explain an account for the equitable maxim equity will not assist a volunteer and B, Critically explain an account for the differences between equitable and common law remedies - Essay Example A donatio mortis causa is where property is transferred to another in expectation that the maker will be dying soon after the item has been transferred. The transfer is conditional that the death is imminent. Such a gift is effective form the moment it has been made subject to the death of the testator soon after making the bequest. The gift is classed as an inter vivos gift such that if the testator does not die as expected the gift will be revoked. Blackstone talks of donatio mortis causa as occurring when a person ‘in his last sickness, apprehending his dissolution near, delivers or causes to be delivered to another the possession of any personal goods to keep in case of his decease’. Swinburne identifies 3 types of donatio mortis causa, these being a gift in anticipation of death, a gift moved by imminent danger which takes effect immediately and a gift where a person in peril of death gives something to the donee that only becomes the property of the donee if the donor dies. The Lord Chancellor disagreed with this stating that only the first of these was a donatio mortis causa. The Lord Chancellor made the comment that the second type would be an inter vivos gift whilst the third type would be a testamentary disposition. ‘for an effectual donatio mortis causa three things must combine: first, the gift or donation must have been made in contemplation, though not necessarily in expectation, of death; secondly, there must have been delivery to the donee of the subject-matter of the gift; and, thirdly, the gift must be made under such circumstances as shew that the thing is to revert to the donor in case he should recover’ As a result of cases such as Sen v. Headley2 the courts have adopted a different approach to the application of donatio mortis causa. The new conditions require that the gift was made in contemplation of death, rather than expectation; that the gift is made subject to the condition that it will only