I Also Own A Share Of The Property!

It is quite frequently the case that two or more people buy property and only one of them is registered as the legal owner. This may be for a number of reasons, such as one of the parties might have difficulty obtaining a mortgage. How does the person who is not the legal owner, establish a interest in the property and the extent of the interest?

The starting point is that a person who is the sole legal owner of property is the absolute beneficial owner and anyone claiming a beneficial interest must prove that the legal owner holds the property upon trust to give effect to his interest: see Pettitt v. Pettitt [1970] AC 777 at 813-814, HL per Lord Upjohn.

However, depending on the circumstances this is not too problematic to overcome. Beneficial ownership may be established on the basis of an express, constructive or a resulting trust. Very often at the point of purchase the conveyancing...