Sen v Headley
A gift of land can be made by way of a donatio mortis causa, by giving the donee the keys to a box containing the title deeds.
Facts
Mr Hewett was dying in hospital. He told Mrs Sen, with whom he had had a long relationship, that the house was hers and that the deeds were in a steel box. He slipped the keys to the box into her bag. After his death, she found the key to the box, which contained the title deeds to the house. She claimed the house as a gift made in contemplation of death.
Legal principle
The Court of Appeal held that there was a valid donatio mortis causa of the house. Nourse LJ said that the doctrine of donatio mortis causa is anomalous, but that there was no reason to exclude land from its scope. The conditions were satisfied: the gift was made in contemplation of impending death, it was conditional on death, and the donor parted with dominion over the land by giving the donee the means of access to the title deeds. The personal representatives held the house on trust for Mrs Sen.
Related cases on formalities and constitution of trusts
- Re Brooks' Settlement Trusts [1939] Ch 993
- Cannon v Hartley [1949] Ch 213
- Choithram (T) International SA v Pagarani [2001] 1 WLR 1
- Fletcher v Fletcher (1844) 4 Hare 67
- Grey v IRC [1960] AC 1
- Hodgson v Marks [1971] Ch 892
- King v Dubrey [2015] EWCA Civ 581, [2016] Ch 221
- Mascall v Mascall (1984) 50 P & CR 119
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