fbpx

Failure to Take Advice Proves Costly in Family Arrangement

28th June 2017 By Arman Khosravi

No matter how much you may trust relatives or close friends, you should never sign important documents without independent legal advice. In one case that proves the point, a man put his name to a deed that was put before him by his brother but which eventually led to the forced sale of his £750,000 home.

The man and his brother had used money given to them by their mother to buy a flat. He believed that it would provide a home for him and his family indefinitely, but his brother considered it a development opportunity. Following a conversation in a coffee shop, the man signed a deed that enabled him to live in the flat rent-free and capped his brother’s interest in the property at £367,500.

However, unbeknown to the man, the deed included a provision that either of them could require a sale of the property, without the other’s consent, a year after it was purchased. They subsequently fell out and the brother sought to force a sale.

After the brother launched proceedings, a judge commented on the man’s naivety. He was not good with details and had relied on his brother to explain to him the meaning and effect of the deed. However, his brother had not breached the duty of candour that he owed to him and had not brought undue influence to bear.

The brother was entitled to expect that he would take independent advice before signing such a document. Had the mutual power to force a sale not been included, the brother would have been obliged to allow the man to live in the flat indefinitely without paying rent and would not have been entitled to share in any increase in its capital value. In the circumstances, the effect of the deed was fair and reasonable.

The judge gave the man and his family one month to move out before the flat would be put on the market.

Source: Concious

Latest News

Tenants Can Purchase Freehold When Landlord Cannot Be Found

11th June, 2024 By

The Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 gives qualifying leaseholders the right to join together to buy the freehold of their properties – a process known as collective enfranchisement. A recent case demonstrated that this right can be exercised even when the landlord cannot be found. The leaseholders of two flats in a terraced house wished to purchase it from the landlord, but were unable to ascertain his whereabouts and therefore could not serve notice on him under Section 13 of the Act. They therefore applied for an...

Court Refuses to Set Aside Divorce Order Applied for by Mistake

6th June, 2024 By

While the courts have a range of powers to set aside orders, they will only exercise them in limited circumstances. In a somewhat surprising case that has attracted much comment, the High Court declined to set aside a final order of divorce that had been applied for by mistake. A couple separated in January 2023, after more than 21 years of marriage. In October that year, while financial remedy proceedings were still ongoing, the wife's legal representatives inadvertently applied for a final order of divorce in respect of her instead...

Waiting Time for Grants of Probate Falls

3rd June, 2024 By

Following concerns last year about delays in processing probate applications, recent figures from HM Courts and Tribunals Service show that waiting times for grants of probate are continuing to improve. The average time from submission of a probate application to probate being granted fell to 11.3 weeks in March 2024, a decrease from 13.7 weeks in February and 13.8 weeks in January. This is the lowest figure since March 2023, when the average was 10.8 weeks. The longest waiting time since then was in November, at 15.8 weeks: that month,...

Late Appeal Against Tax Penalties Rejected

31st May, 2024 By

It is incumbent on taxpayers to make sure they fully comply with their obligations to file returns and pay any tax due. The point was illustrated by a recent case in which a taxpayer whose return had not been received by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) failed to persuade the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) that he should be permitted to appeal against the resulting penalties. On the evening of 31 January 2014, the man had completed his 2012/13 Income Tax return on HMRC's website. Shortly afterwards he went to Cyprus, and...