Splitting up & splitting assets

• A conversation can form the basis of a proprietary estoppel claim.
• For a proprietary estoppel the agreement must be clear, but need not cover the “mechanics”.

While these days it seems popular in the media to describe marriage as “just a piece of paper”, family lawyers will be quick to correct such a view. As they will tell anyone who will listen there can be all the difference in the world on the law governing property disputes between separating couples if they are married and if they are not. For married couples the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 gives the courts a wide discretion to divide property. For unmarried couples there is no jurisdiction to redistribute the couple’s property and the court can do no more than declare what the current ownership is. But that is easier said than done and this area of the law is notoriously complex and unpredictable.

The facts of Ely v Robson

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