“It is sometimes difficult to know whether money which a parent has given to his child is an advancement or not, but, generally speaking, an advancement is money which is given either to start a child in life or to provide for him, and does not include casual payments, so that a child is not bound to account for every sum received from a parent.” G.C. Cheshire, Modern Law of Real Property 784 (3d ed. 1933).
advancement
advancement, n. A payment or gift to an heir (esp. a child) during one’s lifetime as an advance share of one’s estate, with the intention of reducing or extinguishing or diminishing the heir’s claim to the estate under intestacy laws. • In some jurisdictions, the donor’s intent is irrelevant if all the statutory elements of an advancement are present. A few jurisdictions define the relationship between the donor and donee to include inter vivos transfers between ancestors and descendants. Cf. ADEMPTION. [Cases: Descent and Distribution 93–118; Wills 757–762. C.J.S. Descent and Distribution §§ 69, 95–111, 116; Wills §§ 1774–1790.] — advance, vb.
