Gifted jewellery: simple present or donation to declare?

It is the first question to ask, and the one on which everything else depends: is the piece of jewellery you are giving — or have received — a customary gift, or a manual donation?

The customary gift: a present, in legal terms

The customary gift is exempt from gift taxation. It is neither declarable nor taxable, and it will not be brought back into the estate: the beneficiary keeps it definitively, without having to account to the other heirs.

To benefit from this regime, two conditions must be met:

• An occasion. The gift must be made on an event where custom dictates that one gives: birthday, wedding, birth, baptism, passing an examination, end-of-year celebrations.
• Proportionality. Its value must remain modest in relation to the income and assets of the giver, assessed on the day of the gift.

There is no legal threshold — and that is precisely the problem

Contrary to a widespread idea, the law sets neither a maximum amount nor a percentage. The courts assess on a case-by-case basis, comparing the value of the item to the means of the donor. Practitioners often take the view that a customary gift must not impoverish the giver, but no numerical rule is binding.

Practical consequence: it is the value of the jewellery that determines the applicable regime. A ring at €1,500 given for a wedding by a wealthy family is an indisputable customary gift; a solitaire at €25,000 given “for Christmas” will very probably be reclassified as a manual donation — with the corresponding tax and inheritance consequences.

The manual donation: the transfer of an item, outside occasion or outside proportion

As soon as one of the two conditions is missing, we move into the manual donation. This must be declared by the beneficiary, may give rise to duties depending on the relationship and the available allowance, and will be brought back into the estate — that is, taken into account when dividing between heirs.

Nothing alarming: a correctly declared manual donation is perfectly legal and often advantageous, since it uses up an allowance that is renewed every fifteen years. The risk is not in giving, it is in giving without knowing which regime one falls under.

What we bring to this question

We do not legally classify a gift — that is neither our role nor our competence. On the other hand, we provide the element that no one else can establish: the market value of the jewellery, written and dated. It is on this basis that your notary, or the administration, will assess proportionality.

And in many cases, this value reassures: pieces that families believed to be very precious turn out to be of moderate value, which places the gift without discussion in the customary gift category.

Updated on 25 July 2026 — allowances and declaration procedures change regularly; check the rule in force on the day of your donation.