Proprietary Estoppel : A Review Of The Supreme Court Decision In Guest v Guest

• Published date: 28 October 2022
• Subject Matter: Litigation, Mediation & Arbitration, Family and Matrimonial, Trials & Appeals & Compensation, Wills/ Intestacy/ Estate Planning
• Law Firm: Weightmans
• Author: Mr Matthew Morton and Lottie Tyler

The Supreme Court has now handed down its judgment in the case of Guest v Guest.

On 19 October 2022, the Supreme Court handed down its judgment in the case of Guest v Guest. This was a long-awaited decision for lawyers dealing with claims of this nature as there have been many conflicting opinions as to how the law should be interpreted.

Background

The background to the case concerned the ownership of Tump Farm which was a working dairy farm that had been owned and run by members of the Guest family for many years. The farm was purchased by David Guest and his wife in the early 1960s. The couple had two sons (Andrew and Ross) and a daughter (Jan).

In 1981, David Guest, and his wife, Josephine Guest, prepared wills stating that their two sons would inherit Tump Farm in equal shares with a small pecuniary legacy left for Jan. This was in the expectation that the two sons would work on the farm after leaving school.

In 1982, Andrew (the oldest son) started to work full time at the farm and received a basic wage. Andrew lived in one of the cottages located on the farm and undertook a significant amount of training, which contributed to the development and success of the farm.

Andrew claims that he was told that he would inherit the farm and the farming business. When his younger brother later became involved in the farming business, he accepted that the farm would be shared with his brother.

There was a disagreement within the family and relations began to deteriorate. In 2014 David and Josephine prepared new wills removing Andrew as a beneficiary. The farming partnership was dissolved in 2015 and Andrew was asked to vacate the property which he lived in on the farm.

The result was an application to the High Court for proprietary estoppel by Andrew. By the time of the High Court action, Andrew had dedicated over 30 years of his life working at the family farm. Andrew alleged that the work was for a basic wage but he had an expectation of inheriting half of the farming business.

The High Court case

In the High Court, the judge found that an assurance was given by the parents through a series of conversations over the course of more than 30 years. The court found that there was a clear enough assertion that the inheritance for the farm would be split between Andrew and his younger brother and found that reliance on the assurance caused a detriment as Andrew worked hard to develop Tump Farm. It was found that he had not only carried out day to day tasks, but he...