No Going Back: The Transfer Of Beneficial Interests In Land

• Published date: 07 March 2023
• Law Firm: Mayer Brown
• Author: Gillian Palmer

Introduction

English property law has developed a sophisticated system of property rights in land, to enable joint ownership of land and to regulate successive interests in the same land over a period of time. This was largely achieved by the recognition of an additional type of interest in land, separate from the legal title. An equitable interest could, in certain circumstances, be untethered from the legal title and become a separate right. This is seen most often in situations where two or more parties own land together. They are joint legal owners - both names will appear on the title register - but they also hold the entire beneficial interest on trust for each other.

The Hudson v Hathaway [2022] EWCA Civ 1648 case illustrates two things. The first is that giving away a beneficial interest is simply done and, once done, cannot be undone. The second is that putting your name at the bottom of an email can in certain circumstances be construed as a signature just as surely as one written on paper in "wet ink".

The Facts

This case involves residential property and a domestic situation but has equal significance for commercial property. A couple living together owned their house as joint...