{"id":5726,"date":"2018-10-12T12:38:31","date_gmt":"2018-10-12T12:38:31","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2019-06-17T16:40:27","modified_gmt":"2019-06-17T16:40:27","slug":"james-v-thomas-2007","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lawteacher.net\/cases\/james-v-thomas-2007.php","title":{"rendered":"James v Thomas"},"content":{"rendered":"

James v Thomas [2007] EWCA Civ 1212<\/strong><\/p>\n

Constructive Trust \u2013 Proprietary Estoppel \u2013 Cohabiting \u2013 Beneficial Interest \u2013 Common Intention – Property<\/p>\n

Facts<\/h3>\n

The defendant, Mr Thomas, owned the cottage in dispute as the sole registered proprietor of the property. Mr Thomas had inherited this property on the death of his parents; he had subsequently bought the remaining shares from his siblings. Three years later, he had formed a relationship with the complainant, Ms James and she moved into the cottage. He also ran his business from the cottage. The complainant had worked with the defendant for his business without receiving payment. In addition, Ms James had given the defendant \u00a35,000 towards a mortgage repayment for the house. Mr Thomas had made assurances to the complainant that she would be \u2018well provided for\u2019 in his will and that the work she carried out on the cottage would \u2018benefit them both.\u2019<\/p>\n

Issues<\/h3>\n

The trial judge had dismissed the claim of beneficial interest under Section 14 of the Trusts of Land and Appointments of Trustee Act 1996. The appeal concerned whether the judge had erred and misunderstood when a constructive trust could arise from circumstances.<\/p>\n

Decision\/Outcome<\/h3>\n

The appeal was dismissed. It was held that the complainant did not have a beneficial interest in the property, as there was no common intention for a constructive trust to be created nor could there be a claim of proprietary estoppel. The assurances that her work would \u2018benefit us both\u2019 and that she would be \u2018well provided for\u2019 if something happened to Mr Thomas, were not enough to succeed with a claim for common intention. In addition, her contribution to the mortgage payment was not enough to find common intention for the property.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The defendant, Mr Thomas, owned the cottage in dispute as the sole registered proprietor of the property.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[85],"class_list":["post-5726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cases","tag-uk-law"],"yoast_head":"\nJames v Thomas | LawTeacher.net<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The defendant, Mr Thomas, owned the cottage in dispute as the sole registered proprietor of the property.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lawteacher.net\/cases\/james-v-thomas-2007.php\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" 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