Facts
Since the early 1970s, lawyer [Z.] has been the counsel and friend of H.X., a wealthy person domiciled in N. In 2000, H.X. married F.X. In 2001, H.X. and [Z.] opened a joint bank account in Geneva, called "U." On July 19, 2002, H.X. ordered the transfer of $1,000,000 US to this account, according to [Z.] to mark their long friendship. On June 4, 2003, [Z.] transferred $1,500,000 US from this account to one of his personal accounts. After the deterioration of their relations in 2004, H.X. passed away in 2005. In 2006, F.X. and company Y., as testamentary executors, requested the restitution of the one million dollars from [Z.], disputing the existence of a valid donation.
Considerations
The Federal Tribunal considered that, although the promise to donate did not comply with the written form required by law, the effective transfer of funds from H.X.'s assets to Z.'s constituted a valid manual donation under Art. 243(3) CO. Indeed, as soon as the funds left the donor's assets to enter those of the donee, the donation is deemed valid, regardless of the form of the initial promise.
Th…