Morwenna had succeeded at trial in obtaining relief entitling her elderly client to a beneficial interest in a property owned by his son. The appeal concerned the quantification of that interest (70%). Morwenna successfully persuaded the Court of Appeal that despite an error made by the Trial Judge in construing the completion statement and thus the amount each party put in at purchase, the original quantification was right in all the circumstances, including the indirect contributions to purchase price. It was held that the son should not have been treated as having exclusively contributed the mortgage advance where the father’s rental monies received on other properties had been used to defray the mortgage repayments. The Court of Appeal thereby confirmed that quantification in constructive trust cases was not a strict mathematical exercise and that all the circumstances of the case must be considered. Jones v Kernott [2011] UKSC 53 [2012] 1 AC 776 and Stack v Dowden [2007] UKHL 17; 2 AC 432 applied. Please click here for more details on Westlaw.
10th October 2016