17 Colum. J. Eur. L. 447 (2010)
Aaron Schwabach, Professor of Law, Thomas Jefferson School of Law; J.D., University of California at Berkeley (Boalt Hall), 1989.
In the United Kingdom, and to a lesser extent the United States, an inter vivos gift, once given, cannot be reclaimed by the giver’s heirs. In civil law countries the situation is quite different: Not only spouses, but issue and in some cases even ascendants, are entitled to a forced share of a decedent’s estate – and these forced shares are assessed against a notional “estate” that includes the testator’s inter vivos gifts. If the total of these forced shares exceeds the amount actually available in the decedent’s estate at death, the recipients of the gifts, or their successors, may be forced to make up the missing amount.
