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09 April 2009 / Mark Warwick
Issue: 7364 / Categories: Features , Property
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Words' worth

Investing in bricks and mortar together? Get it in writing says Mark Warwick

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In these uncertain times, if the funds are available, there is much to be said for parties investing in bricks and mortar. Where two or more persons purchase property in their joint names there are cogent reasons why they should set out in writing their intentions regarding their interests in that property. A recent appellate decision, Chopra v Bindra (2009) EWCA Civ 203, [2009] All ER (D) 219 (Mar) shows that, if parties do execute a document recording their intentions, then the courts will strive to give effect to this document, even if the language deployed appears to contravene some settled rule of property law.

Recording interests

The importance of parties recording their agreement as to their interests in jointly owned property in documentary form is best understood by considering the position if they do not do so. At present the state of the law, where there is no trust deed regarding jointly owned property, is

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NEWS
he abolition of assured shorthold tenancies and section 21 evictions marks the beginning of a ‘brave new world’ for England’s rental sector, writes Daniel Bacon of Seddons GSC
Stephen Gold’s latest Civil Way column rounds up a flurry of procedural and regulatory changes reshaping housing, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and personal injury litigation
Patients are being systematically failed by an NHS complaints regime that is opaque, poorly enforced and often stacked against them, argues Charles Davey of The Barrister Group
A wealthy Russian divorce battle has produced a sharp warning about trying to challenge foreign nuptial agreements in the wrong English court. Writing in NLJ this week, Vanessa Friend and Robert Jackson of Hodge Jones & Allen examine Timokhin v Timokhina, where the High Court enforced Russian judgments arising from a prenuptial agreement despite arguments based on the landmark Radmacher decision
An obscure Victorian tort may be heading for an unexpected revival after a significant Privy Council ruling that could reshape liability for dangerous escapes, according to Richard Buckley, barrister and emeritus professor of law at the University of Reading
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