Re Draper's Conveyance
A summons asking the court to order the sale of the matrimonial home and the division of the proceeds severed the joint tenancy.
Facts
Mr and Mrs Draper held their matrimonial home as joint tenants. After a divorce, Mrs Draper issued a summons under section 17 of the Married Women's Property Act 1882 asking for the house to be sold and the proceeds to be distributed between them in accordance with their respective interests. She also swore an affidavit in support. Mr Draper died before the case was heard, and the question was whether the summons had severed the joint tenancy.
Legal principle
Plowman J held that the joint tenancy had been severed. The summons and affidavit, which showed an intention that the house should be sold and the proceeds divided, amounted to a notice in writing of a desire to sever under section 36(2) of the Law of Property Act 1925. The fact that the notice was part of legal proceedings did not prevent it from being a valid notice.
Related cases on co-ownership and trusts of land
- Bank of Ireland Home Mortgages Ltd v Bell [2001] 2 FLR 809
- Barca v Mears [2004] EWHC 2170 (Ch)
- Bull v Bull [1955] 1 QB 234
- Burgess v Rawnsley [1975] Ch 429
- Re Citro (A Bankrupt) [1991] Ch 142
- First National Bank plc v Achampong [2003] EWCA Civ 487, [2004] 1 FCR 18
- Goodman v Gallant [1986] Fam 106
- Harris v Goddard [1983] 1 WLR 1203
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