Legal Definitions - donatory

Donatory

In Scots law, a donatory refers to an individual or entity that receives a gift or donation. More specifically, the term is used to describe someone who receives a gift directly from the Crown (representing the monarch or the state).

Here are a few examples to illustrate this concept:

• Imagine a situation where a piece of undeveloped land in a rural part of Scotland legally reverts to the Crown because its previous owners died without heirs and no other legal claim could be established. The Crown then decides to formally grant this land to a local community organization, enabling them to build affordable housing for residents. In this scenario, the local community organization, as the recipient of the land from the Crown, would be considered the donatory.

• Consider a valuable collection of historical documents discovered on Crown land, which legally become the property of the Crown. To ensure their preservation and public access, the Crown formally transfers ownership of these documents to the National Library of Scotland. The National Library of Scotland, receiving this significant gift from the Crown, acts as the donatory.

• Suppose the Crown decides to establish a new academic research fund dedicated to studying Scottish history and culture. It endows this fund with a substantial sum of money from Crown assets, designating a specific university to administer it. The university, in accepting and managing this endowment from the Crown, would be the donatory of the funds.