And for the new year, it seems an opportune moment to delve into the Nearly Legal search logs in a vaguely quixotic attempt to provide answers to some of the questions that brought people here. Alternatively, where this is not possible, we can stare in mute...
A strange new beast in the forest
The case of Clarence House v National Westminster Bank [2009] EWCA Civ 1311 deals with a relatively new form of transaction that seems, at present, to be confined to City property transactions. I report it here because it may become more widespread. This new...
Chancery or Family? – the former matrimonial home
In Smith v Smith the Court of Appeal considered the conflict between TOLATA and its family law jurisdiction. The background is a sad one. The Smiths married in 2004. They bought what I assume to be a lovely house of 3,800 square feet in 5 floors and with...
Mortgage possession defeated by constructive trust
An opportunity to indulge in schadenfreude at the expense of a mortgage lender is offered by HSBC v Dyche [2009] EWHC 2954 (Ch) where a claim for possession by a mortgagee was dismissed because the actual occupant of the property was beneficiary under a...
Section 2, LP(MP)A and proprietary estoppel: Where are we now?
The Issue One of the slight frustrations of being an aspiring academic is that you tend to think in bite-size terms as and when the tutorial cycle demands. We've just "done" the now familiar peaks and troughs of the "new model" constructive trust and...
Imputed fairness?
Jones v Kernott [2009] EWHC 1713 (Ch) [not on Bailii yet] was an appeal from the County Court on a Trust of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 case. At issue is the question of fairness and whether and how far a change in common intention can be...
Redolent of Improbability
I don't think there is any significant point of law or practice in Lemas and Sealy v Williams [2009] EWCA Civ 360, but it is a strange case (although one suspects many readers will have been involved in similarly chaotic cases at one stage or another) and...
Constructive trust and misrepresentation
Qayyum v Hameed & Anor [2009] EWCA Civ 352 is a case with a complicated background - it originated in the collapse of BCCI, for heaven's sake - but thankfully, the issues in this appeal were relatively straightforward, if novel. In 1991 Mr & Mrs Qayyum...
A dutiful cousin
The House of Lords have again considered the nature and extent of proprietary estoppel in Thorner v Majors [2009] UKHL 18. Regular readers will recall we discussed their decision in Yeoman’s Row Management Limited (Appellants) and another v Cobbe...
The good nephew
A rather odd case dealing with competing charges on a right to buy property turned up at the High Court. Brighton & Hove City Council v Audus [2009] EWHC 340 (Ch) was an attempt by Brighton to challenge the validity of a second charge on the property held by...
No no she's not dead, she's, she's restin'!
Newport City Council v Charles [2008] EWCA Civ 1541, The Times, 11 Aug 2008 [now on bailii] The transcript for this (factually remarkable but legally straightforward) case has only just been produced, hence the delay in covering it. The appellant, Mr...
Families, eh
The one key message of property law is never trust your family. Mirza v Mirza [2009] EWHC 3 (Ch) is a further example of this truism and I can only marvel at the way Stephen Smith QC, sitting as a Deputy Chancery Judge, dealt with the case. The Claimants,...