House-owner dying intestate — Plaintiff living with deceased — Expectation of property being left for plaintiff’s benefit — Principles for proprietary estoppel — Claim succeeds
No 19 Campbell Street, Belper, Derbyshire, was originally owned by the plaintiff’s father, Fred Bowmer; he died intestate in December 1976 and two of his sons obtained letters of administration following which the estate would have passed in one-seventh shares to the deceased’s children or their representatives. One of the administrators has since died and the other is the surviving defendant. The surviving plaintiff, a daughter of the deceased, claimed 19 Campbell Street, alleging proprietary estoppel. She argued that she and her now deceased husband (originally the second plaintiff) lived in no 19 and she was led to suppose that on her father’s death the house would pass to her. She had lived in the house since 1940 with her husband and a now deceased sister looking after her father.
Originally the deceased held only a tenancy, but in 1957 he purchased the house, the plaintiff and her sister contributing to the legal expenses and to some extensive repairs over the years. Evidence was adduced as to the deceased’s intentions as to the future disposition of his property and the expectations of the plaintiff and her sister in regard to the house.
Held The claim was allowed for the following reasons: (1) the deceased allowed and encouraged the plaintiff and her sister to assume that the house would be theirs after his death; (2) in that expectation, the sisters spent money on the property incurring a detriment; and (3) it was unconscionable to disappoint or deny their expectations, and this point arose some years before the deceased’s death.
Taylors Fashions Ltd v Liverpool Victoria Trustees Co Ltd
[1982] 1 QB 133; (1979) 251 EG 159 and
E & L Berg Homes Ltd v Grey
(1980) 253 EG 473 followed.
Roderick Doggett (instructed by Alan Kerry & Co, of Belper) appeared for the plaintiff; and Michael Furness (instructed by Gouldens as agents for Walker Terry Wilson, of Belper) appeared for the defendant.
