Equity and trusts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Equity and trusts - Essay Example pective of property relations such that even if married couples lived together in a property owned by one of them prior to the marriage and used the same as family home after the marriage the law does not deem the newcomer as a part owner of such property. Albeit the courts enjoy wide discretion under the Matrimonial Causes Act of 1973 to distribute the properties between divorced husband and wife, a declaration dividing the matrimonial home equally between the ex-spouses cannot be made ipso facto because courts usually take into account legalities and legal requirements in adjudicating such property. Thus, in Pettitt v Pettitt [1970] AC 777 HL, the Court declared that the husband has no equitable interest in the couple’s family home despite the fact that he contributed labour and money in the improvement of the property. The Court held that the wife is the legal and equitable owner of the property because she used her own money in its purchase. This decision was held despite the fact that the husband relied on the provision of s 17 of the Married Women’s Property Act 1882, which allowed the Court discretion to distribute properties between contending husbands and wives. In another interesting case, Lloyds Bank v Rosset [1991] 1 AC 107, [1991] All ER 1111, a married couple purchased a farmhouse out of family funds. The sellers, however, insisted that the purchase should be made in the name of the husband alone but the wife had a significant role in supervising the extensive repairs over the property. The family funds, however, were not enough to pay for the entire purchase price of the property and the husband, without the knowledge of the wife, sought loan from a bank and secured the same with a legal charge over the property. When the payments for the loans defaulted, the bank moved to foreclose the property over the objection of the wife who claimed beneficial interest over it. The Court disagreed holding that the wife had no beneficial interest over it