O prawie do żądania zwrotu przedmiotu darowizny z uwagi na niedostatek darczyńcy po jego śmierci

Abstrakt

Both German and Polish law recognise the right of the donor who is in hardship in relation to the donee to demand either the revocation of the donation or the return of its object, or even to have the donor pay maintenance to the donee. Such rights expire in both countries if they had not been asserted before the death of the entitled person. However, if another party provided the testator with means of maintenance before the testator's death, then recourse claims which passed to the this party during the testator's lifetime may be asserted against the liable person also after the testator's death. In such a situation, German law holds that there is no confusion of debt and claims even if the person obliged to return the object of the donation to the third party is the heir. In Polish law, this issue should not raise such doubts as in German law due to the self-existent nature of the recourse claims of third parties who provided the testator with means of maintenance before the testator's death. However, also in Polish law, there should be no expiration of obligational relationship (obligation and debt) as a result of confusion, in a given situation, if it is against the protection of the legally justified interests of third parties. Those theses were the outcome of the scientific research project "The obligational elements structuring the status of heirs in Polish and German law of succession. Comparative challenges and future perspectives" granted by Deutsch-Polnische Wissenschaftsstiftung (project no. 2018-25).