Oral Property Transfer Agreement Nullified Due to Lack of Notarial Form

The case concerned a dispute over an oral agreement where a person promised to transfer ownership of a property upon the death of the current owner, in exchange for receiving income from the property during the current owner's life; the appellate court ruled that this agreement, lacking a prescribed notarial form for a life annuity contract conditional upon a future event, was null and void. The high court upheld this decision, reasoning that while the contract's essence was an exchange of income for the eventual transfer of property upon death, the oral nature violated the required solemnity for a transfer of property conditioned upon the lifetime of the transferor, thus confirming the contract's nullity based on the applicable legal formalities concerning life annuities and property transfer agreements.