Category: Undue Influence

Poosathurai v Kannappa Chettiar and Others: PC 18 Nov 1919

(Madras)

Citations:

[1919] UKPC 110, [1919] LR 47

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – National Westminster Bank plc v Morgan HL 7-Mar-1985
Undue influence was alleged.
Held: Equity avoids dispositions of property procured by the improper or unconscientious use of the influence of one person over another, that cannot be explained on the grounds of friendship, charity or other . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Undue Influence

Updated: 02 May 2022; Ref: scu.423352

Crowe v Ballard: 1790

Crowe was the expectant heir to a legacy with a life tenant and in 1777 asked Ballard to sell his expectancy on his behalf. Ballard claimed to have sold to Toft for andpound;350, but had in fact bought the expectancy himself and advanced andpound;310 to Crowe. In 1780 the life tenant was dying and Crowe applied to Ballard to re-purchase the legacy. Ballard revealed he was the purchaser but was only prepared to re-sell the legacy if Crowe made a post-obit bond to pay him (Ballard) andpound;1,800 after the death of Crowe’s father. The bond falsely recited that it was given in consideration of a debt of andpound;900. Crowe’s father died in 1782 and Crowe gave Ballard a new bond for andpound;1,800 with 5% interest. He paid the interest on that bond until 1787 when he offered to pay the money originally due with interest if the bond were released. Ballard refused and brought an action on the bond whereupon Crowe filed a bill for delivery up of the bond on repayment of the money originally advanced. Sir John Scott S-G for Crowe said that the only argument that could be urged was that the 1782 bond and the subsequent payment of interest over a 4 year period were a ‘confirmation’ of the original transaction. Mr Mansfield for Ballard agreed saying:- ‘It is not now a question, what would be the proper justice between the parties, if it had stood upon the original transaction without anything intervening to alter or confirm it.’ His argument was that the 1782 bond was a new contract and not affected by Ballard’s original unconscionable conduct.
Held: Finding for Crowe, the court doubted whether the word ‘confirmation’ was correctly used but held, in any event, that the 1782 bond could not be such a ‘confirmation’. ‘. . . I have attended formerly to the reason of that word ‘confirmation’; and have been at a loss for the principle, upon which the Courts have spoken of such transactions as these, subsequent to the demand arising, as a confirmation. I know, if a gentleman of honour and fortune feels himself bound in honour by the circumstances of a bargain, however disadvantageous, not to rescind it, and, knowing the case, declares, when of full age, not under the terror of distress, that he thinks proper to give a new bond; the circumstance of an honorary engagement, attended with money actually advanced, is sufficient to maintain the possessor of the new bond. But if a man gives a new bond under an idea, that the old one may be enforced against him, at what time is that a confirmation? . . . What I go upon is, that the second bond was not given freely, but upon a consideration, that in his mind carried with it a value, it ought not, and was derived from a fraudulent consideration.’

Judges:

Lord Thurlow LC

Citations:

(1790) 1 Ves Jun 214

Cited by:

Cited – Yorkshire Bank Plc v Tinsley CA 25-Jun-2004
The defendant’s husband had charged the matrimonial home on several occasions to the claimant. It was found that the first charges were affected by undue influence and could not be enforced. The defendant argued that the last charge which replaced . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Land, Undue Influence

Updated: 30 April 2022; Ref: scu.199970

Boyse v Rossborough: HL 1857

In order to set aside the will of a person of sound mind, it is not sufficient to show that the circumstances attending its execution are consistent with hypothesis of its having been obtained by undue influence. It must be shown that they are inconsistent with a contrary hypothesis. Undue influence, in order to render a will void, must be an inference which can justifiably be described by a person looking at the matter judicially to have caused the execution of a paper pretending to express a testator’s mind, but which really does not express his mind, but something else which he did not really mean. As to the presence of capacity to make a will: ‘On the first head the difficulty to be grappled with arises from the circumstances that the question is almost always one of degree. There is no difficulty with the case of a raving mad man or drivelling idiot in saying that he is a person incapable of disposing of property; but between such an extreme case and that of a man of perfectly sound and vigorous understanding there is every shade of intellect, every degree of mental capacity. There is no possibility of mistaking midnight for noon but at what precise moment twilight becomes darkness is hard to determine.’

Judges:

Lord Cranworth

Citations:

[1857] EngR 299, (1857) 5 HLC 1, (1857) 10 ER 1192, [1857] 6 HLC 2

Links:

Commonlii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

See Also – Boyse v Rossborough 5-Dec-1853
A bill can be maintained by a devisee of the legal estate in real property, who is in possession, for the purpose of establishing the will against the testator’s heir at law, although the heir has brought no action of ejectment against the devisee. . .
See Also – Boyse v Rossborough 11-Feb-1854
A mere legal devisee may file a bill against the heir at law of the testator for the purpose of having the will established against him, though no trustess are declared by the will, and though it is not necessary to administer the estate under the . .
See Also – Boyse v Rossborough 7-Nov-1854
A decree of the Court of Chancery in Ireland, after verdict upon an issue devisavit vel non, does not determine the validity or invalidity of the will, so far as it relates to lands in England, and cannot be pleaded in bar to a suit in this Court. . .

Cited by:

Cited – Killick v Pountney and Another; Re Killick Deceased ChD 31-Mar-1999
Mr Killick’s will was challenged on the basis that it had been executed under undue influence, and that he had suffered dementia. The deceased’s nephew alleged that the beneficiaries had used their position to influence him to make the will in their . .
Cited – Thompson and others v Thompson and others FdNI 16-Feb-2003
The family sought to challenge the validity of the will, saying the testator lacked capacity, and that he had made the will under the undue influence of the beneficiaries.
Held: There was clear evidence that the testator, whilst changeable, . .
Cited – Potter v Potter FdNI 5-Feb-2003
The testator’s capacity to make his will was challenged. He had lived alone without electricity, but his doctor said he was known to him and was ‘with it’. Evidence from a member of staff at the solicitor’s office supported the doctor’s description. . .
Cited – Robin Sharp and Malcolm Bryson v Grace Collin Adam and Emma Adam and others CA 28-Apr-2006
The testator suffered secondary progressive multiple sclerosis. It was said that he did not have testamentary capacity. He had lost the power of speech but communicated by a speech board. The solicitor had followed appropriate standards in attesting . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Undue Influence, Wills and Probate

Updated: 29 April 2022; Ref: scu.188022

O’Sullivan v Management Agency and Music Limited: CA 1985

The claimant alleged undue influence. As a young singer he had entered into a management agreement with the defendant which he said were prejudicial and unfair. The defendant argued that the ‘doctrine of restitutio in integrum applied only to the rescission of contracts for misrepresentation or mistake, and did not apply to equitable relief where contracts had been entered into as the result of undue influence.’
Held: Rescission might still be granted if practical justice can be achieved. Agreements obtained by undue influence were set aside even though the parties could not be restored to their original positions.
Dunn LJ said: ‘If the case had to be decided according to the principles of the common law, it might have been argued that at the date when the respondent issued his writ he was not entitled to rescind the purchase, because he was not then in a position to return to the appellant in specie that which he had received under the contract, in the same plight as that in which he had received it: Clarke v. Dickson, E.B. and E. 148. But it is necessary here to apply the doctrine of equity, and equity has always regarded as valid the disaffirmance of a contract induced by fraud even though precise restitutio in integrum is not possible, if the situation is such that, by the exercise of its powers, including the power to take accounts of profits and to direct inquiries as to allowances proper to be made for deterioration, it can do what is practically just between the parties, and by so doing restore them substantially to the status quo: Erlanger v. New Sombrero Phosphate Co., 3 App.Cas. 1218, at pp.1278, 1279, Brown v. Smith (1924) 34 C.L.R. 160, 165,169; Spence v.Crawford [1939] 3 All E.R. 271, 279, 280. It is not that equity asserts a power by its decree to avoid a contract which the defrauded party himself has no right to disaffirm, and to revest property the title to which the party cannot affect. Rescission for misrepresentation is always the act of the party himself: Reese River Silver Mining Co. Ltd. (Directors of the) v. Smith (1869) L.R. 4 H.L. 64, 73. The function of a court in which proceedings for rescission are taken is to adjudicate upon the validity of a purported disaffirmance as an act avoiding the transaction ab initio, and, if it is valid, to give effect to it and make appropriate consequential orders: see Abram Steamship Co. Ltd. v. Westville Shipping Co. Ltd. [1923] A.C. 773. The difference between the legal and the equitable rules on the subject simply was that equity, having means which the common law lacked to ascertain and provide for the adjustments necessary to be made between the parties in cases where a simple handing back of property or repayment of money would not put them in as good a position as before they entered into their transaction, was able to see the possibility of restitution in integrum, and therefore to concede the right of a defrauded party to rescind, in a much wider variety of cases than those which the common law could recognise as admitting of rescission. Of course, a rescission which the common law courts would not accept as valid cannot of its own force revest the legal title to property which had passed, but if a court of equity would treat it as effectual the equitable title to such property revests upon the rescission.’ and ‘This analysis of the authorities shows that the principle of restitutio in integrum is not applied with its full rigour in equity in relation to transactions entered into by persons in breach of a fiduciary relationship, and that such transactions may be set aside even though it is impossible to place the parties precisely in the position in which they were before, provided that the court can achieve practical justice between the parties by obliging the wrongdoer to give up his profits and advantages, while at the same time compensating him for any work that he has actually performed pursuant to the transaction.’
Fox LJ said: ‘Accordingly, it seems to me that the principle that the court will do what is practically just as between the parties is applicable to a case of undue influence even though the parties cannot be restored to their original position. That is, in my view, applicable to the present case. The question is not whether the parties can be restored to their original position; it is what does the justice of the case require? That approach is quite wide enough, if it be necessary in the individual case, to accommodate the protection of third parties. The rights of a bona fide purchaser for value without notice would not in any event be affected’.

Judges:

Dunn LJ, Fox LJ

Citations:

[1985] QB 428, (1984) 2 IPR 499, [1984] 3 WLR 448, [1985] 3 All ER 351

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Approved – Alati v Kruger 29-Nov-1955
(High Court of Australia) The remedy of rescission is only available if the parties can be returned to their respective positions before the contract was made. Dixon CJ said: ‘It is not that equity asserts a power by its decree to avoid a contract . .

Cited by:

Cited – Halpern and Another v Halpern and others ComC 4-Jul-2006
The court considered whether a party can avoid a contract procured by duress in circumstances where he cannot offer the other party substantial restitutio in integrum.
Held: Unless the claimant could offer counter-restitution, the remedy of . .
Cited – Fiona Trust and Holding Corp and others v Privalov and others ComC 20-Oct-2006
The parties disputed whether their claim should be arbitrated.
Held: A claim as to whether the contract itself had been made was not one which could be arbitrated by provisions in that contract. It does not arise ‘under’ the contract. The . .
Cited – Halpern and others v Halpern and Another (No 2) CA 3-Apr-2007
The parties had settled by compromise a dispute about the implementation of a will before the Beth Din. It was now said that the compromise agreement had been entered into under duress and was unenforceable. The defendant said that rescission could . .
Cited – Imageview Management Ltd v Jack CA 13-Feb-2009
The appellant company acted for the respondent footballer in placing him with a football club. The respondent said that he had also taken a payment from the club, nominally for arranging a work permit. The respondent said this was improper. The . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Contract, Undue influence, Equity

Leading Case

Updated: 20 April 2022; Ref: scu.244663

Mumford v Bank of Scotland: IHCS 29 Sep 1995

There was no undue influence presumption to fix a bank with notice of husband’s misrepresentation of the position to wife giving security.

Citations:

Times 29-Sep-1995

Citing:

Appeal from – Mumford v Bank of Scotland; Smith v Same OHCS 4-Aug-1994
Bank has no duty in Scotland to wife of borrower securing debt on house. . .

Cited by:

Appealed to – Mumford v Bank of Scotland; Smith v Same OHCS 4-Aug-1994
Bank has no duty in Scotland to wife of borrower securing debt on house. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Undue Influence

Updated: 09 April 2022; Ref: scu.84123

Bank of Cyprus (London) Ltd v Markou and Another: ChD 8 Feb 1999

W, an equal shareholder with her husband and secretary of company was asked by him to sign an unlimited guarantee and charge when the company’s bank account moved between branches. She was not given independent advice and took no real part in the company.
Held: Undue influence by the husband had been established, and the bank was fixed with notice. The equal shareholding was no complete answer to her claim of manifest disadvantage in the transaction. The bank knew that she took no practical part in the business, and that was enough to put them on enquiry.

Judges:

John Jarvis QC J

Citations:

Gazette 10-Feb-1999, [1999] 2 All ER 707, Independent 08-Feb-1999

Undue Influence, Banking

Updated: 08 April 2022; Ref: scu.78153

Goldsworthy v Brickell: CA 1987

The plaintiff had granted a tenancy of his substantial farm to the first defendant, and made him a partner. The first defendant later bought out the plaintiff who was in turn later reconciled with his only son who had previously had some considerable involvement with the farm. The plaintiff gave a general power to the son who now sought to set aside the transactions as having been obtained by undue influence.
Held: A presumption of undue influence could be raised where the gift was so large or improvident that it could not be accounted for from mere friendship. Equity has refused to put limits on what is to be held to be a fiduciary relationship and to which the presumption of undue influence can apply. There has to exist a degree of trust and confidence such that: (Nourse LJ) ‘The party in whom it is reposed, either because he is or has become an adviser of the other or because he has become entrusted with the management of his affairs or every day needs or for some other reason, is in a position to influence him into effecting the transaction of which complaint is later made.’ and acquiescence in its proper sense involves ‘a standing by so as to induce the other party to believe that the wrong is assented to.’
Parker LJ said: ‘Upon whatever precise basis it is sought to uphold a transaction which was originally obtained by undue influence it is an essential ingredient that it would be inequitable to allow the influenced party to set aside the transaction.’
Nourse LJ also said: ‘Undue influence is of two kinds: (1) express or, as it is nowadays more usually known, actual undue influence, and (2) that which in certain circumstances is presumed from a confidential relationship; by which in this context is meant a relationship wherein one party has ceded such a degree of trust and confidence as to require the other, on grounds of public policy, to show that it has not been betrayed or abused. In cases where there is no confidential relationship actual undue influence must be proved. In cases where there is such a relationship it is sometimes alleged, but need not be proved and may never have occurred. Occasionally, even where there is no direct evidence of influence, it is found that there is both a confidential relationship and actual undue influence . . ‘ and ‘ . . Because they have occasioned little or no debate on this appeal, three further general observations may be briefly made. First, it is not every relationship of trust and confidence to which the presumption applies. No generalisation is possible beyond the definition already attempted. Secondly, with relationships to which it does apply the presumption is not perfected and remains inoperative until the party who has ceded the trust and confidence makes a gift so large, or enters into a transaction so improvident, as not to be reasonably accounted for on the ground of friendship, relationship, charity or other ordinary motives on which ordinary men act. Although influence might have been presumed beforehand, it is only then that it is presumed to have been undue. Thirdly, in a case where the presumption has come into operation the gift or transaction will be set aside, unless it is proved to have been the spontaneous act of the donor or grantor acting in circumstances which enable him to exercise an independent will and which justify the court in holding that the gift or transaction was the result of a free exercise of his will.’

Judges:

Nourse LJ, Parker LJ

Citations:

[1987] Ch 378, [1987] 2 WLR 133

Statutes:

Agricultural Holdings Act 1948 8

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Applied – Aiden Shipping Co Ltd v Interbulk Ltd (The ‘Vimeira’) HL 1986
Wide Application of Costs Against Third Party
A claim had been made against charterers by the ship owners, and in turn by the charterers against their sub-charterers. Notice of motion were issued after arbitration awards were not accepted. When heard, costs awards were made, which were now . .
Cited – In re Craig, Decd 1971
Undue influence was found to have been exercised by a secretary companion over her elderly employer. . .

Cited by:

Cited – X v Y, Z sub nom In re E (Enduring power of attorney) ChD 18-Feb-2000
The application was an appeal against an order registering an enduring power of attorney. The appeal from Master Lush was by way of rehearing. The donor had executed two powers. The second was invalid, and the donees of the first power sought to . .
Cited – Billington (By Billington Her Next Friend) Billington, Warburton v Blackshaw CA 16-Dec-1997
The court had set aside a conveyance at an undervalue by a mother to one of her children. There was evidence to doubt her capacity at the time.
Held: There was evidence of senile dementia, and the presumption applied. The judge had dealt . .
Cited – De Wind v Wedge ChD 19-Mar-2008
Brother and sister contested the devolution of their mother’s house. The sister had fallen into debt and been given much financial assistance by other members of the family. The brother said that to rebalance that, the mother had given the house to . .
Cited – Brown v Stephenson ChD 23-Aug-2013
The claimant sought to have set aside transfers and declarations of trust made by her in the defendant’s favour, saying that they had been given under his undue influence taking advantage of her dyslexia, and by bullying.
Held: The claims of . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Equity, Undue Influence, Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 23 March 2022; Ref: scu.182897

Takhar v Gracefield Developments Ltd and Others: SC 20 Mar 2019

The claimant appellant alleged that properties she owned were transferred to the first defendant under undue influence or other unconscionable conduct by the second and third defendants. The claim was dismissed. Three years later she claimed to set that judgment aside having been obtained by fraud. To support the allegation she brought evidence not available at the first trial that the defendants had forged her signature on a document. The defendants requested its strike out as an abuse of process, saying that reasonable diligence would have obtained the fresh evidence before the original trial. The judge refused the application and allowed the claim to proceed to trial, holding that the reasonable diligence condition did not apply where a party sought to set aside a judgment on the grounds of fraud, and there had been no abuse of process. The CA allowed the defendants’ appeal, holding that reasonable diligence was required by the claimant.
Held: The appeal succeeded. A person who applies to set aside an earlier judgment on the basis of fraud does not have to demonstrate that the evidence of this fraud could not have been obtained with reasonable diligence in advance of the earlier trial.
Fraud as such had not been pleaded at the first trial, and therefore this was not a relitigation of the issues at that first trial, and the authorities on which the defendant relied did not go to a proposition that, in cases where it is alleged that a judgment was obtained by fraud, it may only be set aside where the party who makes that application can demonstrate that the fraud could not have been uncovered with reasonable diligence in advance of the judgment. The law does not expect people to arrange their affairs on the basis that others may commit fraud.
An action to set aside an earlier judgment for fraud is not a procedural application but a cause of action. This cause of action is independent of the cause of action asserted in the earlier proceedings and there can therefore be no question of cause of action estoppel. There is also no question of issue estoppel, because the basis of the action is that the earlier decision is vitiated by fraud and cannot bind the parties.

Judges:

Lord Kerr, Lord Sumption, Lord Hodge, Lord Lloyd-Jones, Lord Briggs, Lady Arden, Lord Kitchin

Citations:

[2019] UKSC 13, [2019] 2 WLR 984, [2019] 3 All ER 283, [2019] WLR(D) 198, UKSC 2017/0072

Links:

Bailii, WLRD, SC, SC Summary, SC Summary Video, SC 2018 Oct 10 am Video, SC 2018 Oct 10 pm Video

Statutes:

Income Taxes Act 2007 132, Taxes Management Act 1970 9A Sch1A

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

At first Instance – Takhar v Gracefield Developments Ltd and Others ChD 6-May-2015
The claimant alleged that the defendant had obtained its judgment in earlier proceedings by fraud. The defendant now applied for the claim to be dismissed as an abuse of process. . .
Appeal from – Takhar v Gracefield Developments Ltd and Others CA 21-Mar-2017
. .
Cited – Hip Foong Hong v H Neotia and Co PC 15-Jul-1918
An appellate Court has inherent power to set aside a judgment obtained through fraud. Lord Buckmaster described how an appellate court should deal with an allegation that an earlier judgment had been obtained by fraud: ‘Where a new trial is sought . .
Cited – Hunter v Chief Constable of the West Midlands Police HL 19-Nov-1981
No collateral attack on Jury findigs.
An attempt was made to open up in a civil action, allegations of assaults by the police prior to the making of confessions which had been disposed of in a voir dire in the course of a criminal trial. The plaintiffs had imprisoned having spent many . .
Cited – Ashingdane v The United Kingdom ECHR 28-May-1985
The right of access to the courts is not absolute but may be subject to limitations. These are permitted by implication since the right of access ‘by its very nature calls for regulation by the State, regulation which may vary in time and place . .
Cited – Johnson v Gore Wood and Co HL 14-Dec-2000
Shareholder May Sue for Additional Personal Losses
A company brought a claim of negligence against its solicitors, and, after that claim was settled, the company’s owner brought a separate claim in respect of the same subject-matter.
Held: It need not be an abuse of the court for a shareholder . .
Cited – Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd v Zodiac Seats UK Ltd SC 3-Jul-2013
Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd sought to recover damages exceeding 49,000,000 pounds for the infringement of a European Patent which did not exist in the form said to have been infringed. The Technical Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office had . .
Cited – HIH Casualty and General Insurance Limited and others v Chase Manhattan Bank and others HL 20-Feb-2003
The insurance company had paid claims on policies used to underwrite the production of TV films. The re-insurers resisted the claims against them by the insurers on the grounds of non-disclosure by the insured, or in the alternative damages for . .
Cited – Kirby v the Owners of the Scindia (The ‘Marie Joseph’) PC 23-Jun-1866
A Bill of lading for the delivery of goods to order and assigns, is a negotiable instrument, which by indorsement and delivery passes the property in the goods to the indorsee, subject only to the right of the unpaid vendor to stop them in transitu. . .
Cited – Jonesco v Beard HL 1930
The plaintiff was a race horse trainer. He had made two claims against the defendant owner alleging first that the defendant had agreed to give him a share in some horses and second that the plaintiff had sold two horses to him but not been paid for . .
Cited – Lazarus Estates Ltd v Beasley CA 1956
There was a privative clause in the 1954 Act. A landlord’s declaration under the Act that work of a specified value, supporting an increase in rent, had been carried out on leased premises, could not be questioned after 28 days of its service on the . .
Cited – Clone Pty Ltd v Players Pty Ltd (In Liquidation) (Receivers and Managers Appointed) 21-Mar-2018
. .
Cited – McDonald v McDonald 13-Aug-1965
HCA – Appeal – New Trial – Fresh evidence – Tending to prove verdict obtained by fraud – Principles of grant of new trial on grounds of fraud and discovery of fresh evidence.
the High Court of Australia applied Hip Foong Hong and Jonesco v . .
Cited – Toubia v Schwenke 2002
Supreme Court of New South Wales – Court of Appeal
‘In an action for fraud, a plaintiff must prove that he was deceived but need not prove that he was diligent.’ Handley JA continued: ‘Where the action seeks the judicial rescission of a . .
Cited – Owens Bank Ltd v Bracco and Another (No2) HL 17-Jun-1992
The bank had obtained judgment in St Vincent to recover a loan. It now sought to register the judgment here for enforcement. The defendant wanted to argue that the judgment had been obtained by fraud, and to resist registration of the judgment. The . .
Cited – Callaghan v Hanson-Fox (Andrew) FD 1992
H sought to have set aside a decree absolute obtained on the petition of his now deceased wife on the ground of fraud, in that the petitioner had falsely sworn in her affidavit verifying the petition that the marriage had broken down irretrievably . .
Cited – The Ampthill Peerage Case HL 1977
There was a dispute about the legitimacy of an heir to the title. New evidence had been discovered after the trial.
Held: The House considered whether a new trial of an action might be ordered after discovery of new evidence: ‘The law knows, . .
Cited – Arnold v National Westminster Bank Plc HL 1991
Tenants invited the court to construe the terms of a rent review provision in the sub-underlease under which they held premises. The provision had been construed in a sense adverse to them in earlier proceedings before Walton J, but they had been . .
Cited – Gould v Vaggelas 1984
Brennan J said: ‘A knave does not escape liability because he is dealing with a fool.’ . .
Cited – McIlkenny v Chief Constable of the West Midlands CA 1980
The appellant had been convicted of an IRA bombing, causing loss of many lives. The appellant and his other co-accused alleged that their confessions had been induced by police violence. The trial judge ruled that their confessions were voluntary . .
Cited – Montefiori v Montefiori 1746
A note, given fraudulently, to carry on a marriage treaty, shall be good against the drawer, though given without any consideration.
Lord Mansfield said: ‘no man shall set up his own iniquity as a defence, any more than as a cause of action’. . .
Cited – Boswell v Coaks (No 2) 1894
An English judgment is impeachable in an English court on the ground that the first judgment was obtained by fraud but only by the production and establishment of evidence newly discovered since the trial and not reasonably discoverable before the . .
Cited – Redgrave v Hurd CA 1881
The plaintiff, an elderly solicitor wishing to retire, advertised for someone to enter into partnership with him and to buy his house. The defendant responded to the advertisement and negotiations followed, in which the plaintiff stated that the . .
Cited – Phosphate Sewage Co (Ltd) v Molleson (Peter Lawson and Son’s Trustee) HL 8-Jul-1879
Res judicata – Competent and Omitted – Case of a Claimant in a Sequestration making a Second Claim.
Averments in two successive claims in a sequestration in consequence of which – affirming judgment of Court of Session – the plea of res . .
Cited – Henderson v Henderson 20-Jul-1843
Abuse of Process and Re-litigation
The court set down the principles to be applied in abuse of process cases, where a matter was raised again which should have been dealt with in earlier proceedings.
Sir James Wigram VC said: ‘In trying this question I believe I state the rule . .
Cited – Flower v Lloyd CA 11-Jun-1877
The plaintiffs tried to restrain the defendant from infringing their patent. They succeeded at first instance but the order was overturned on appeal. An expert went to inspect the process at the defendant’s works. Later, employees gave affidavits . .

Cited by:

See Also – Takhar v Gracefield Developments Ltd and Others ChD 23-Oct-2020
The Claimant seeks to set aside a judgment obtained against her by the Defendants in 2010 in an earlier action – allegation that new evidence of forgery of signature. . .
See Also – Takhar v Gracefield Developments Ltd and Others (Consequential Orders) ChD 11-Nov-2020
. .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Undue Influence, Evidence

Updated: 23 March 2022; Ref: scu.634789

Burton v Walters: CA 15 Jun 2016

The defendant sought leave to appeal against an order for the possession of his house under a charge given to secure loans, arguing that the judge had misdirected himself as to the burden of proof on his claim of undue influence.
Held: The argument was in fact an attempt to challenge findings of fact.

Hallett LJ
[2016] EWCA Civ 675
Bailii
England and Wales

Undue Influence

Updated: 22 January 2022; Ref: scu.568619

Bainbrigge v Browne: ChD 19 May 1881

An impoverished father had prevailed upon his inexperienced children to charge their reversionary interests under their parents’ marriage settlement to pay his mortgage debts. Undue influence was claimed.
Held: The defendants who were not volunteers did not have the requisite notice of the undue influence and were entitled to enforce their security.
Fry J said that a vitiating circumstance would operate: ‘against the person who is able to exercise the influence (in this case it was the father) and in my judgment, it would operate against every volunteer who claimed under him, and also against every volunteer who claimed under [the person who had exercised undue influence], and also against every person who claimed under him with notice of the equity thereby created, or with notice of the circumstances from which the court infers the equity. But, in my judgment, it would operate against no others; it would not operate against a person who is not shown to have taken with such notice of the circumstances under which the deed was executed.’ Though there here was no direct evidence of undue pressure by the father, there were circumstances ‘from which the court will infer pressure and undue influence.’ None of the children were entirely emancipated from their father’s control, and none conversant with business. These circumstances cast the burden of proof upon the father who had made no attempt to discharge that burden, and did not appear. The children’s claim succeeded.

Fry J
(1881) 18 ChD 188, [1881] UKLawRpCh 148
Commonlii
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Barclays Bank Plc v O’Brien and Another HL 21-Oct-1993
The wife joined in a charge on the family home to secure her husband’s business borrowings. The husband was found to have misrepresented to her the effect of the deed, and the bank had been aware that she might be reluctant to sign the deed.
Cited – Barclays Bank Plc v Boulter and Another HL 26-Oct-1999
The question of whether notice of certain facts amounted to constructive notice of other facts is a question of law. Where it was claimed that a party should be exempt from liability under a document which it was claimed was signed because of . .
Cited – Barclays Bank Plc v Boulter and Another HL 26-Oct-1999
The question of whether notice of certain facts amounted to constructive notice of other facts is a question of law. Where it was claimed that a party should be exempt from liability under a document which it was claimed was signed because of . .
Cited – Royal Bank of Scotland v Etridge (No 2); Barclays Bank plc v Harris; Midland Bank plc v Wallace, etc HL 11-Oct-2001
Wives had charged the family homes to secure their husband’s business borrowings, and now resisted possession orders, claiming undue influence.
Held: Undue influence is an equitable protection created to undo the effect of excess influence of . .
Cited – Lipkin Gorman (a Firm) v Karpnale Ltd HL 6-Jun-1991
The plaintiff firm of solicitors sought to recover money which had been stolen from them by a partner, and then gambled away with the defendant. He had purchased their gaming chips, and the plaintiff argued that these, being gambling debts, were . .
Cited – Brown v Stephenson ChD 23-Aug-2013
The claimant sought to have set aside transfers and declarations of trust made by her in the defendant’s favour, saying that they had been given under his undue influence taking advantage of her dyslexia, and by bullying.
Held: The claims of . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Undue Influence

Updated: 15 January 2022; Ref: scu.179882

Cowderoy v Cranfield: ChD 24 Jun 2011

The claimant challenged a will alleging lack of capacity, non-approval and undue influence.
Held: Morgan J discussed the standard of proof applicable: ‘The requisite standard is proof on the balance of probabilities but as the allegation of undue influence is a serious one, the evidence required must be sufficiently cogent to persuade the Court that the explanation for what has occurred is that the testator’s will has been overborne by coercion rather than there being some other explanation’

Morgan J
[2011] EWHC 1616 (Ch)
Bailii
England and Wales
Cited by:
Principal judgment – Cowderoy v Cranfield ChD 13-Oct-2011
. .
Cited – Wharton v Bancroft and Others ChD 8-Dec-2011
Mr Wharton anticipated his imminent death. He made a will leaving everything to his long time partner in anticipation of their marriage, married her and died a few days later. The will made no provision for his first wife or their now adult . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Wills and Probate, Undue Influence

Updated: 15 January 2022; Ref: scu.441216

Barclays Bank Plc v Boulter and Another: HL 26 Oct 1999

The question of whether notice of certain facts amounted to constructive notice of other facts is a question of law. Where it was claimed that a party should be exempt from liability under a document which it was claimed was signed because of misrepresentations and undue influence by a third party, the burden of proof remained on the party making that assertion that the bank had constructive notice of such misrepresentation and or undue influence: ‘In the case of undue influence exercised by a husband over a wife, the burden is prima facie very easily discharged. The wife needs to show only that the bank knew that she was a wife living with her husband and that the transaction was not on its face to her financial advantage. The burden is then upon the bank to show that it took reasonable steps to satisfy itself that her consent was properly obtained. ‘

Lord Slynn of Hadley, Lord Nolan, Lord Steyn, Lord Hoffman, Lord Hutton
Times 26-Oct-1999, Gazette 03-Nov-1999, [1999] UKHL 39, [1999] 4 All ER 513, [1999] 3 EGLR 88, (2000) 32 HLR 170, [2000] Fam Law 25, (2000) 79 P and CR D1, [2000] CP Rep 16, [1999] 49 EG 97, [1999] 2 FLR 986, [2000] Lloyd’s Rep Bank 29, [1999] 3 FCR 529, [1999] 1 WLR 1919, [1999] EG 121, [1999] NPC 124
House of Lords, Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Barclays Bank Plc v O’Brien and Another HL 21-Oct-1993
The wife joined in a charge on the family home to secure her husband’s business borrowings. The husband was found to have misrepresented to her the effect of the deed, and the bank had been aware that she might be reluctant to sign the deed.
Cited – Bainbrigge v Browne ChD 19-May-1881
An impoverished father had prevailed upon his inexperienced children to charge their reversionary interests under their parents’ marriage settlement to pay his mortgage debts. Undue influence was claimed.
Held: The defendants who were not . .
Cited – CIBC Mortgages Plc v Pitt and Another HL 21-Oct-1993
Mrs Pitt resisted an order for possession of the house saying that she had signed the mortgage only after misrepresentations by and the undue infuence of her husband who was acting as the bank’s agent.
Held: A bank was not put on enquiry as to . .
Cited – Bainbrigge v Browne ChD 19-May-1881
An impoverished father had prevailed upon his inexperienced children to charge their reversionary interests under their parents’ marriage settlement to pay his mortgage debts. Undue influence was claimed.
Held: The defendants who were not . .
Cited – In re Nisbet and Potts’ Contract 1905
Where a party asserted he was a purchaser in good faith without notice and for value, the burden of proving all the elements of the defence is upon the purchaser. A title acquired by adverse possession was not paramount to, and did not destroy the . .
Cited – Independent Automatic Sales Ltd v Knowles and Foster 1962
If a pleading alleges all the facts which would, as a matter of law, give rise to constructive notice on the part of the other party of the matters alleged that should be enough to enable the party to argue the legal consequences of the facts . .
Cited – Whitehorn Brothers v Davison CA 1911
It is for the defrauded owner seeking to recover his goods to prove that the purchaser had actual or constructive knowledge of the fraud. The passing of a good title to an innocent purchaser applied when the owner had been induced by false pretences . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Undue Influence, Banking

Updated: 15 January 2022; Ref: scu.78191

Barclays Bank Plc v O’Brien and Another: HL 21 Oct 1993

The wife joined in a charge on the family home to secure her husband’s business borrowings. The husband was found to have misrepresented to her the effect of the deed, and the bank had been aware that she might be reluctant to sign the deed.
Held: The charge was not to be enforced. The bank was under constructive notice, and ought to have known of the undue influence of the husband. The security was obtained by undue influence or misrepresentation. The House set a low level for the threshold which must be crossed before a bank is put on inquiry.
Lord Browne-Wilkinson: ‘Therefore in my judgment a creditor is put on inquiry when a wife offers to stand surety for her husband’s debts by the combination of two factors: (a) the transaction is on its face not to the financial advantage of the wife; and (b) there is a substantial risk in transactions of that kind that, in procuring the wife to act as surety, the husband has committed a legal or equitable wrong that entitles the wife to set aside the transaction.’ Unconscionable conduct is ‘ some other legal wrong’. ‘if the doctrine of notice is properly applied, there is no need for the introduction of a special equity in these types of cases. A wife who has been induced to stand as a surety for her husband’s debts by his undue influence, misrepresentation or some other legal wrong has an equity as against him to set aside that transaction. Under the ordinary principles of equity, her right to set aside that transaction will be enforceable against third parties (e.g. against a creditor) if either the husband was acting as the third party’s agent or the third party had actual or constructive notice of the facts giving rise to her equity. Although there may be cases where, without artificiality, it can properly be held that the husband was acting as the agent of the creditor in procuring the wife to stand as surety, such cases will be of very rare occurrence. The key to the problem is to identify the circumstances in which the creditor will be taken to have had notice of the wife’s equity to set aside the transaction. The doctrine of notice lies at the heart of equity. Given that there are two innocent parties, each enjoying rights, the earlier right prevails against the later right if the acquirer of the later right knows of the earlier right (actual notice) or would have discovered it had he taken proper steps (constructive notice).’

Lord Templeman, Lord Lowry, Lord Browne-Wilkinson, Lord Slynn of Hadley and Lord Woolf
Gazette 17-Dec-1993, Times 22-Oct-1993, Independent 22-Oct-1993, [1993] 3 WLR 786, [1994] 1 AC 180, [1993] 4 All ER 417, [1993] UKHL 6
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Avon Finance Co Ltd v Bridger CA 1985
The son arranged finance for his parents to move near to him. He borrowed money to help finance it, secured by an expensive second loan. He deceived his parents into executing the loan. After the son defaulted, the plaintiff sought possession.
Cited – Bainbrigge v Browne ChD 19-May-1881
An impoverished father had prevailed upon his inexperienced children to charge their reversionary interests under their parents’ marriage settlement to pay his mortgage debts. Undue influence was claimed.
Held: The defendants who were not . .
Cited – Bank of Credit and Commerce International SA v Aboody CA 1989
In a case where the defendant said that a mortgage had been signed from undue pressure the court may find actual undue influence as opposed to presumed undue influence. Slade LJ said: ‘Ever since the judgments of this court in Allcard v Skinner a . .
Cited – Bank of Montreal v Stuart PC 1911
The court used the phrase ‘immoderate and irrational’ to describe the character of a transaction which might of its nature suggest undue influence. A solicitor who is advising a client about a transaction and has reason to suspect that the client is . .
Cited – Bank of Victoria Ltd v Mueller 1925
Cussen J opined that a wife was entitled to relief from a guarantee granted to the bank undertaken under pressure from her husband where amongst other matters it could be shown: ‘that the husband in procuring and pressing for such consent . .
Cited – Bischoff’s Trustee v Frank 1903
. .
Cited – CIBC Mortgages Plc v Pitt and Another HL 21-Oct-1993
Mrs Pitt resisted an order for possession of the house saying that she had signed the mortgage only after misrepresentations by and the undue infuence of her husband who was acting as the bank’s agent.
Held: A bank was not put on enquiry as to . .
Cited – Coldunell Ltd v Gallon CA 1986
Even in the absence of agency, if the debtor has been guilty of undue influence or misrepresentation in securing the giving of security by a third party to cover his debt to the creditor, the creditor may not be able to enforce the surety contract . .
Cited – Grigby v Cox 1750
The court considered a claim that the husband had exercised undue influence over his wife.
Held: The court rejected any presumption of undue influence, and said that a court of equity ‘will have more jealousy’ over dispositions by a wife to a . .
Cited – Hoghton v Hoghton CA 16-Apr-1852
When a person has made a large voluntary disposition the burden is thrown on the party benefitting to show that the disposition was made fairly and honestly and in full understanding of the nature and consequences of the transaction. Romilly MR . .
Cited – Howes v Bishop 1909
The relationship of husband and wife does not bring a case within Class 2(A). . .
Cited – Kings North Trust Ltd v Bell CA 1986
The wife claimed to have signed a legal charge in favour of the plaintiffs by virtue of her husband’s fraudulent misrepresentation. The charge secured the business borrowings of the husband. She did not get independent advice.
Held: The bank . .
Cited – Midland Bank Plc v Shephard CA 1988
Setting aside of bank’s charge where execution by a third party to secure the creditors debt had been secured by the creditors misrepresentation of the charge. . .
Cited – Turnbull and Co v Duval PC 1902
Mr Duval owed three separate sums to a firm Turnbull and Co including andpound;1,000 owed to the Jamaican branch for beer. Turnbulls’ manager and agent in Jamaica was a Mr Campbell. Mr Campbell was also an executor and trustee of a will under which . .
Cited – Yerkey v Jones 1939
The relationship of husband and wife is not enough of itself to raise a presumption of undue influence. The Court of Chancery was not blind to the opportunities of obtaining and unfairly using influence over a wife which the husband often possesses. . .
Appeal from – Barclays Bank Plc v O’Brien and Another CA 22-May-1992
A bank leaving a husband to explain a proposed charge over the matrimonial home to his wife to secure his business debts, could not enforce that charge against her. There was a presumption of undue influence in the husband which made the charge . .

Cited by:
Cited – Cooke v National Westminster Bank Plc; Waldron Wetherell and Co CA 17-Jun-1998
Where a bank had failed to require the solicitors witnessing a wife’s signature to a guarantee, to write to confirm that she had received independent advice, and there had been undue influence, they were deemed to be on notice of such influence. . .
Cited – Royal Bank of Scotland v Etridge, Loftus and Another v Etridge and Another, Etridge v Pritchard Englefield (Merged With Robert Gore and Co ) Midland Bank Plc v Wallace and Another (No 2) CA 31-Jul-1998
Detailed guidance was given on the quality of independent legal advice, which would be required to be given to wives signing charges to secure their husbands’ business etc accounts on the matrimonial home. The interaction of legal advice and . .
Cited – Royal Bank of Scotland v Etridge (No 2); Barclays Bank plc v Harris; Midland Bank plc v Wallace, etc HL 11-Oct-2001
Wives had charged the family homes to secure their husband’s business borrowings, and now resisted possession orders, claiming undue influence.
Held: Undue influence is an equitable protection created to undo the effect of excess influence of . .
Cited – Governor and Company of Bank of Scotland v Bennett and Another CA 21-Dec-1998
The bank appealed an order setting aside a deed of guarantee and mortgage and denying the possession order sought. The guarantee had been given to support borrowings of the defendant’s company. The defendant was the wife of the director and had been . .
Cited – Portman Building Society v Dusangh and Others CA 19-Apr-2000
The defendant sought to set aside an order for possession under a mortgage.
Held: Where a case was strong enough on its face in terms of conduct and terms, unconscionable conduct could be inferred if there was no explanation offered to . .
Cited – UCB Group Ltd v Hedworth CA 4-Dec-2003
The defendant challenged the claimant’s right to possession under a legal charge. She appealed a finding that she had not established the undue influence of her husband, a solicitor.
Held: A lender who received a voidable security was entitled . .
Cited – Niersmans v Pesticcio CA 1-Apr-2004
A house have been given by a man with learning difficulties to her sister. The case appealed an order that undue influence had applied.
Held: The gift failed despite the attempt at independent legal advice. The court reviewed the law of undue . .
Cited – Barclays Bank Plc v Boulter and Another HL 26-Oct-1999
The question of whether notice of certain facts amounted to constructive notice of other facts is a question of law. Where it was claimed that a party should be exempt from liability under a document which it was claimed was signed because of . .
Cited – Scotlife Home Loans (No 2) Limited v Melinek and Melinek CA 9-Sep-1997
The second defendant sought leave to appeal against a possession order obtained by the claimant. The loan obtained had been misapplied by the first defendant, her husband. She had been advised in the transaction by his partner in their solicitors’ . .
Cited – R Griggs Group Ltd and others v Evans and others (No 2) ChD 12-May-2004
A logo had been created for the claimants, by an independent sub-contractor. They sought assignment of their legal title, but, knowing of the claimant’s interest the copyright was assigned to a third party out of the jurisdiction. The claimant . .
Cited – Randall v Randall ChD 30-Jul-2004
The executor sought to set aside gifts made by the deceased, an elderly aunt before her death to his brother, alleging undue influence.
Held: The recipient had acted falsely in failing to declare overpayments of benefits. The deceased had been . .
Cited – Forsdike v Forsdike CA 21-Feb-1997
The claimant appealed dismissal of his claim to set aside a transfer by way of gift by his father on the basis of an alleged undue influence.
Held: The judges was entitled to make the findings he had done, and to be impressed by the spacing of . .
Cited – Investors Compensation Scheme Ltd v West Bromwich Building Society HL 19-Jun-1997
Account taken of circumstances wihout ambiguity
The respondent gave advice on home income plans. The individual claimants had assigned their initial claims to the scheme, but later sought also to have their mortgages in favour of the respondent set aside.
Held: Investors having once . .
Cited – Greene King Plc v Stanley and others CA 30-Nov-2001
The claimant challenged an order that the two defendant chargors were discharged from liability to the claimants under their individual voluntary arrangement and on the basis that it had been entered under undue influence. . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Undue Influence, Banking

Leading Case

Updated: 15 January 2022; Ref: scu.78210

Royal Bank of Scotland v Etridge (No 2); Barclays Bank plc v Harris; Midland Bank plc v Wallace, etc: HL 11 Oct 2001

Wives had charged the family homes to secure their husband’s business borrowings, and now resisted possession orders, claiming undue influence.
Held: Undue influence is an equitable protection created to undo the effect of excess influence of one person over the will of another, though it should not always be presumed to arise from the existence of certain close relationships. A bank should be put on enquiry whenever a wife gives security for her husband’s debts, even where she may be jointly liable, or is a director. The independent advice given has often been superficial. The bank should take reasonable steps to satisfy itself that the wife has had brought home to her the practical implications of the proposed transaction. The solicitor should ensure that the wife properly understands the documentation and risks. He should explain that his involvement may mean that she cannot later challenge the charge. The advice should be given face to face, and in the absence of the husband. Provided the solicitor feels he can properly represent her interests, he may also act for the husband. The decision must be hers.
The court listed other steps to be taken by the bank and by the solicitors.
Lord Nicholls said: ‘Undue influence is one of the grounds of relief developed by the courts of equity as a court of conscience. The objective is to ensure that the influence of one person over another is not abused. In everyday life people constantly seek to influence the decisions of others. They seek to persuade those with whom they are dealing to enter into transactions, whether great or small. The law has set limits to the means properly employable for this purpose. To this end the common law developed a principle of duress. Originally this was narrow in its scope, restricted to the more blatant forms of physical coercion, such as personal violence. Here, as elsewhere in the law, equity supplemented the common law. Equity extended the reach of the law to other unacceptable forms of persuasion.’ and
‘the high degree of trust and confidence and emotional interdependence which normally characterises a marriage relationship provides scope for abuse. One party may take advantage of the other’s vulnerability. Unhappily, such abuse does occur. Further, it is all too easy for a husband, anxious or even desperate for bank finance, to misstate the position in some particular or to mislead the wife, wittingly or unwittingly, in some other way. The law would be seriously defective if it did not recognise these realities.’

Lord Bingham of Cornhill Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead Lord Clyde Lord Hobhouse of Wood-borough Lord Scott of Foscote
Times 17-Oct-2001, [2001] UKHL 44, [2001] 3 WLR 1021, [2002] 2 AC 773, [2002] HLR 4, [2002] 1 Lloyd’s Rep 343, [2001] NPC 147, [2001] Fam Law 880, [2001] 43 EGCS 184, [2001] 2 All ER (Comm) 1061, [2001] 4 All ER 449, [2001] 2 FLR 1364, [2002] 1 P and CR DG14, [2001] 3 FCR 481
House of Lords, Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Barclays Bank Plc v O’Brien and Another HL 21-Oct-1993
The wife joined in a charge on the family home to secure her husband’s business borrowings. The husband was found to have misrepresented to her the effect of the deed, and the bank had been aware that she might be reluctant to sign the deed.
Disapproved – Royal Bank of Scotland v Etridge, Loftus and Another v Etridge and Another, Etridge v Pritchard Englefield (Merged With Robert Gore and Co ) Midland Bank Plc v Wallace and Another (No 2) CA 31-Jul-1998
Detailed guidance was given on the quality of independent legal advice, which would be required to be given to wives signing charges to secure their husbands’ business etc accounts on the matrimonial home. The interaction of legal advice and . .
Cited – Huguenin v Baseley 1807
When undue influence is alleged, the law will investigate the way the intention to enter into the transaction was secured. Lord Eldon LC said: ‘Take it that she (the plaintiff) intended to give it to him (the defendant): it is by no means out of the . .
Cited – Bainbrigge v Browne ChD 19-May-1881
An impoverished father had prevailed upon his inexperienced children to charge their reversionary interests under their parents’ marriage settlement to pay his mortgage debts. Undue influence was claimed.
Held: The defendants who were not . .
Cited – CIBC Mortgages Plc v Pitt and Another HL 21-Oct-1993
Mrs Pitt resisted an order for possession of the house saying that she had signed the mortgage only after misrepresentations by and the undue infuence of her husband who was acting as the bank’s agent.
Held: A bank was not put on enquiry as to . .
Cited – National Westminster Bank plc v Morgan HL 7-Mar-1985
Undue influence was alleged.
Held: Equity avoids dispositions of property procured by the improper or unconscientious use of the influence of one person over another, that cannot be explained on the grounds of friendship, charity or other . .
Cited – Allcard v Skinner CA 1887
The donor had parted with almost all her property. She now sought to have the transaction set aside for undue influence.
Held: Where a wife has entered into a gratuitous transaction with her husband, the burden was on the husband as donee to . .
Cited – Zamet v Hyman CA 1961
In considering a claim of undue influence the court referred to relationships where one party owed the other an obligation of candour and protection. A presumption of undue influence arose only where it is proved that the gift was made by the donor . .
Cited – Bank of Credit and Commerce International SA v Aboody CA 1989
In a case where the defendant said that a mortgage had been signed from undue pressure the court may find actual undue influence as opposed to presumed undue influence. Slade LJ said: ‘Ever since the judgments of this court in Allcard v Skinner a . .
Cited – Royal Bank of Scotland v Etridge, Loftus and Another v Etridge and Another, Etridge v Pritchard Englefield (Merged With Robert Gore and Co ) Midland Bank Plc v Wallace and Another (No 2) CA 31-Jul-1998
Detailed guidance was given on the quality of independent legal advice, which would be required to be given to wives signing charges to secure their husbands’ business etc accounts on the matrimonial home. The interaction of legal advice and . .
Cited – Bank of Montreal v Stuart PC 1911
The court used the phrase ‘immoderate and irrational’ to describe the character of a transaction which might of its nature suggest undue influence. A solicitor who is advising a client about a transaction and has reason to suspect that the client is . .
Appeal from – Barclays Bank Plc v Coleman and Others CA 5-Jan-2000
It is still the case that a claimant, arguing for a charge to be set aside for undue influence must show some manifest and clear disadvantage arising from the charge. This may be subject to change in the future, but still applies now. A document . .
Cited – In re Lloyds Bank Ltd, Bomze v Bomze 1931
Where there is evidence that a husband has taken unfair advantage of his influence over his wife, or her confidence in him, ‘it is not difficult for the wife to establish her title to relief.’ . .
Cited – Massey v Midland Bank Plc CA 1995
Where a woman executes a mortgage charging her property in favour of the bank to secure her partner’s debts, the bank is fixed with notice of the possibility of undue influence. It was not necessary that the couple should be married or cohabit. . .
Cited – Cobbett v Brock CA 1855
Knowledge of the undue influence of a husband over his wife in securing her signature to a charge is required before a lender is bound by that undue influence. . .
Cited – Re Coomber, Coomber v Coomber ChD 1911
A father had been assisted in his business by his second son. After the father’s death, the mother transferred the business assets to that second son. After her death, the elder son sought the transfer of those assets back into her estate, saying . .
Cited – Credit Lyonnais Bank Nederland NV v Burch CA 1-Jul-1996
A Bank was to assume that undue influence existed where they knew that an employee was giving security for his employer’s debt to the bank. An unlimited guarantee given by an employee to his employer’s bank was set aside as unconscionable. The . .
Cited – Bank of Baroda v Rayarel and Others CA 19-Jan-1995
A bank may assume that a solicitor advising a customer’s wife had acted properly. The solicitors acted for both the husband and the wife before they also gave their instructions to the solicitors. . .
Cited – Inche Noriah v Shaik Allie Bin Omar PC 1928
Undue influence was alleged against a nephew over his elderly aunt. One solicitor had drafted the deed of gift, and another had witnessed it. The solicitor had established that she understood it and entered into it freely, but had not asked enough . .
Cited – Smith v Governor and Company of The Bank of Scotland HL 6-Feb-1997
A bank which did not warn its customer of the of risks of a loan and of the need for independent advice was bound by misrepresentations made by customer. The House referred to ‘the broad principle in the field of contract law of fair dealing in good . .
Cited – In re Craig, Decd 1971
Undue influence was found to have been exercised by a secretary companion over her elderly employer. . .
Cited – Turnbull and Co v Duval PC 1902
Mr Duval owed three separate sums to a firm Turnbull and Co including andpound;1,000 owed to the Jamaican branch for beer. Turnbulls’ manager and agent in Jamaica was a Mr Campbell. Mr Campbell was also an executor and trustee of a will under which . .
Cited – Watt or Forsyth (Assisted Person) v the Royal Bank of Scotland Plc SCS 26-Jul-1999
It appeared to the creditor that the wife had already had the benefit of professional legal advice, and it did not recommend that she should seek independent legal advice. . .
Cited – Banco Exterior Internacional SA (Formerly Banco Exterior – UK a Limited Liability Company Incorporated Under the Laws of Spain) v Thomas and Barry the Executors of Patricia Dempsey CA 31-Jul-1996
The bank sought to enforce a guarantee against the estate of the deceased guarantor. The executors alleged undue influence. The bank appealed.
Held: Where the other contracting party had had actual knowledge of the undue influence or . .
Cited – Commission for the New Towns v Cooper (Great Britain) Ltd, (Formerly Coopind UK Ltd) CA 4-Mar-1995
The trial judge had dismissed a claim for rectification on the basis that the defendant hoped and suspected, but did not know, of the relevant mistake by the plaintiff.
Held: Rectification was ordered because the defendant had sought to . .
Cited – Kenyon-Brown v Desmond Banks and Co 2000
. .
Cited – Hamilton v Watson 1845
Although a would-be surety is, in general, expected to acquaint himself with the risk he is undertaking, the creditor is under an obligation to disclose to the intending surety ‘anything which might not naturally be expected to take place between . .
Cited – Seaton v Heath CA 1899
A suretyship contract is not a contract uberrimae fidei. Romer LJ said: ‘The risk undertaken is generally known to the surety and the circumstances generally point to the view that as between the creditor and surety it was contemplated and intended . .
Cited – Banco Exterior Internacional v Mann and Others CA 19-Dec-1994
A charge to secure a husband’s borrowings was enforceable where the wife’s signature had been taken before a solicitor who had explained it. Hobhouse LJ (dissenting) ‘It must be remembered that the starting point of this exercise is that the wife’s . .
Cited – London General Omnibus Co Ltd v Holloway 1912
Lee was employed by the bus company in a position which involved receiving money on their behalf. The bus company required him to obtain a fidelity bond from a third party. The bond was given by Holloway, a relative of Lee, without either the bus . .
Appeal from – Governor and Company of Bank of Scotland v Bennett and Another CA 21-Dec-1998
The bank appealed an order setting aside a deed of guarantee and mortgage and denying the possession order sought. The guarantee had been given to support borrowings of the defendant’s company. The defendant was the wife of the director and had been . .
Cited – Pooraka Holdings Pty Ltd v Participation Nominees Pty Ltd 1991
The court considered the creditor’s duty of disclosure to a surety.
Held: The duty of disclosure extends to any unusual feature surrounding the transaction between the creditor and the surety (a) of which the creditor is or ought to be aware, . .
Approved – Governor and Company of Bank of Scotland v Bennett and Another ChD 1997
Mrs Bennett defended the bank’s claim for possession of the matrimonial home charged to the bank to secure her husband’s borrowings. She said that her signature, both to the guarantee and to the legal charge, had been procured by her husband’s undue . .

Cited by:
Cited – National Westminster Bank Plc v Amin and Another HL 28-Feb-2002
The respondents resisted an application for possession of their property by the bank. They claimed undue influence, and that because of an inability to speak English, the charge should be avoided. They appealed an order striking out their defence . .
Cited – U v Centre for Reproductive Medicine CA 24-Apr-2002
The claimant appealed a refusal to grant an order preventing the destruction of the sperm of her late husband held by the respondent fertility clinic. The clinic had persuaded her husband to sign a form of consent for this purpose. The claimant said . .
Cited – Hammond v Osborn and Another CA 27-Jun-2002
Where there was any relationship of trust and confidence between parties, and a substantial gift was made by the one in whom that trust was placed, there would be a presumption of undue influence. Undue influence is a matter of public policy. In a . .
Cited – Padgham and another v Rochelle and another ChD 1-Aug-2002
The testator occupied farmland and buildings. He was helped in maintaining the farm by his son, but gave the land to his grandchildren by his will. The son claimed to have been granted an informal written agricultural tenancy by his father before . .
Cited – Franklyn Dailey v Harriet Dailey PC 2-Oct-2003
PC (British Virgin Islands) The husband and wife had developed a business together. Transfers between the parties had taken place and there were suspicions about misappropriation of money.
Held: The . .
Cited – UCB Group Ltd v Hedworth CA 4-Dec-2003
The defendant challenged the claimant’s right to possession under a legal charge. She appealed a finding that she had not established the undue influence of her husband, a solicitor.
Held: A lender who received a voidable security was entitled . .
Cited – UCB Group Ltd v Hedworth CA 4-Dec-2003
The defendant challenged the claimant’s right to possession under a legal charge. She appealed a finding that she had not established the undue influence of her husband, a solicitor.
Held: A lender who received a voidable security was entitled . .
Cited – Sandra Estelle Fielding v The Royal Bank of Scotland Plc CA 11-Feb-2004
The husband and wife had signed a bank mandate allowing the bank to act upon the authorisation of either of them. The wife complained that the bank should not be able to recover from her any sums expended by the husband.
Held: The mandate . .
Cited – Niersmans v Pesticcio CA 1-Apr-2004
A house have been given by a man with learning difficulties to her sister. The case appealed an order that undue influence had applied.
Held: The gift failed despite the attempt at independent legal advice. The court reviewed the law of undue . .
Cited – Vale v Armstrong, Armstrong ChD 21-May-2004
The claimant sought to set aside a transfer of his house to the defendants made at an undervalue and under an enduring power of attorney, who had charged it to raise money for their business. He had received independent advice.
Held: The . .
Cited – Yorkshire Bank Plc v Tinsley CA 25-Jun-2004
The defendant’s husband had charged the matrimonial home on several occasions to the claimant. It was found that the first charges were affected by undue influence and could not be enforced. The defendant argued that the last charge which replaced . .
Cited – Anthony Papouis v Valerie Gibson-West ChD 4-Mar-2004
The deceased had purchased her flat using the discount available as a tenant, and money contributed by the defendant. A deed of trust had been executed, which the claimant now asserted had been obtained by undue influence.
Held: The principles . .
Cited – R v Her Majesty’s Attorney-General for England and Wales PC 17-Mar-2003
PC (From Court of Appeal of New Zealand) T had been a member of the British SAS. Other members had written books and the Army sought to impose confidentiality contracts or to impose a return to their unit. R . .
Cited – Daniel v Drew CA 6-May-2005
The Aunt had succeeded in her claim that her retirement from a family trust of a farm had been procured by the undue influence of her nephew. The nephew now appealed. She had assigned her interest to her son, who then fell into disagreement about . .
Cited – Randall v Randall ChD 30-Jul-2004
The executor sought to set aside gifts made by the deceased, an elderly aunt before her death to his brother, alleging undue influence.
Held: The recipient had acted falsely in failing to declare overpayments of benefits. The deceased had been . .
Cited – Bowser v Caley and others ChD 16-Mar-2006
The claimant alleged that the transfer by him of his land to his sister and her husband had been obtained by any of several wrongful means and should be set aside.
Held: The allegations of undue influence failed. The claimant did not establish . .
Cited – Halpern and Another v Halpern and others ComC 4-Jul-2006
The court considered whether a party can avoid a contract procured by duress in circumstances where he cannot offer the other party substantial restitutio in integrum.
Held: Unless the claimant could offer counter-restitution, the remedy of . .
Cited – Stack v Dowden HL 25-Apr-2007
The parties had cohabited for a long time, in a home bought by Ms Dowden. After the breakdown of the relationship, Mr Stack claimed an equal interest in the second family home, which they had bought in joint names. The House was asked whether, when . .
Cited – Halpern and others v Halpern and Another (No 2) CA 3-Apr-2007
The parties had settled by compromise a dispute about the implementation of a will before the Beth Din. It was now said that the compromise agreement had been entered into under duress and was unenforceable. The defendant said that rescission could . .
Cited – De Wind v Wedge ChD 19-Mar-2008
Brother and sister contested the devolution of their mother’s house. The sister had fallen into debt and been given much financial assistance by other members of the family. The brother said that to rebalance that, the mother had given the house to . .
Cited – Goodchild v Branbury and others CA 15-Dec-2006
Application was made to set aside transfers of land for undue influence, and that the second transfere was aware of the deficiency in the first.
Held: The appeal suceeded, and the transfers were set aside. Chadwick LJ said: ‘A gift which is . .
Cited – Greene King Plc v Stanley and others CA 30-Nov-2001
The claimant challenged an order that the two defendant chargors were discharged from liability to the claimants under their individual voluntary arrangement and on the basis that it had been entered under undue influence. . .
Cited – Hewett v First Plus Financial Group Plc CA 24-Mar-2010
The appellant appealed against a mortgage possession order, saying that she had been misled into signing the charge by a non-disclosure by her husband of an extra-marital affair he was conducting. The bank had not met the standards set in Etridge, . .
Cited – Link Lending Ltd v Bustard CA 23-Apr-2010
The respondent had been detained in a secure mental unit for a year. In that time her home was charged to the appellant. She asserted that she had been a person in actual occupation. The chargee now appealed against a finding that the respondent had . .
Cited – Brown v Stephenson ChD 23-Aug-2013
The claimant sought to have set aside transfers and declarations of trust made by her in the defendant’s favour, saying that they had been given under his undue influence taking advantage of her dyslexia, and by bullying.
Held: The claims of . .
Cited – Day v Shaw and Another ChD 17-Jan-2014
Mr and Mrs Shaw had granted a second charge over their jointly-owned matrimonial home to secure the personal guarantee given by their daughter and by Mr Shaw in respect of a bank loan to a company (Avon). Their daughter and Mr Shaw were the . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Banking, Legal Professions, Undue Influence, Equity

Leading Case

Updated: 15 January 2022; Ref: scu.166567

Brown v Stephenson: ChD 23 Aug 2013

The claimant sought to have set aside transfers and declarations of trust made by her in the defendant’s favour, saying that they had been given under his undue influence taking advantage of her dyslexia, and by bullying.
Held: The claims of undue influence were not made out, and the documents were upheld. The claimant had receive proper professional support and advice when entering into the transactions.

Behrens J
[2013] EWHC 2531 (Ch)
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Bainbrigge v Browne ChD 19-May-1881
An impoverished father had prevailed upon his inexperienced children to charge their reversionary interests under their parents’ marriage settlement to pay his mortgage debts. Undue influence was claimed.
Held: The defendants who were not . .
Cited – Allcard v Skinner CA 1887
The donor had parted with almost all her property. She now sought to have the transaction set aside for undue influence.
Held: Where a wife has entered into a gratuitous transaction with her husband, the burden was on the husband as donee to . .
Cited – Bank of Montreal v Stuart PC 1911
The court used the phrase ‘immoderate and irrational’ to describe the character of a transaction which might of its nature suggest undue influence. A solicitor who is advising a client about a transaction and has reason to suspect that the client is . .
Cited – Goldsworthy v Brickell CA 1987
The plaintiff had granted a tenancy of his substantial farm to the first defendant, and made him a partner. The first defendant later bought out the plaintiff who was in turn later reconciled with his only son who had previously had some . .
Cited – Bank of Credit and Commerce International SA v Aboody CA 1989
In a case where the defendant said that a mortgage had been signed from undue pressure the court may find actual undue influence as opposed to presumed undue influence. Slade LJ said: ‘Ever since the judgments of this court in Allcard v Skinner a . .
Cited – Royal Bank of Scotland v Etridge (No 2); Barclays Bank plc v Harris; Midland Bank plc v Wallace, etc HL 11-Oct-2001
Wives had charged the family homes to secure their husband’s business borrowings, and now resisted possession orders, claiming undue influence.
Held: Undue influence is an equitable protection created to undo the effect of excess influence of . .
Cited – Smith v Cooper and Another CA 25-Jun-2010
The Court set out the test for where to set aside a transaction after a finding of undue influence: ‘[where] the presumption of undue influence applies, that is to say, the court will presume that the transaction was procured by undue influence . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Undue Influence

Updated: 15 January 2022; Ref: scu.514976

Tomson v Judge: 25 Jun 1855

A, who was proved to have entertained feelings of peculiar personal regard for B, his solicitor, conveyed to him certain rea1 estate by a deed, on the face of it a purchase deed the consideration was andpound;1000, the real value upwards of andpound;1200. B. produced evidence to shew that no money passed ; that the transaction was never intended to be a purchase, but a gift for his services and from affection. B. had himself prepared the deed, and A. had no other advice. Held, that the rule is absolute that a solicitor cannot sustain a gift from his client made pending the relation of solicitor and client; and the deed was set aside.
Kindersley V-C said the solicitor must show that: ‘the transaction was perfectly fair, that the client knew what he was doing, and that a fair price was given’.

Kindersley VC
[1855] EngR 631, (1855) 3 Drew 306, (1855) 61 ER 920
Commonlii
Cited by:
Cited – Wright v Carter CA 1903
The plaintiff sought to set aside a gift that he had made to his solicitor asserting undue influence.
Vaughan Williams LJ said: ‘. . whenever you have these fiduciary relations (and in the present case we have to deal with the particular . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Legal Professions, Undue Influence

Updated: 10 January 2022; Ref: scu.292553

Craig v Lamoureux: HL 1920

The House considered the facts to be established before a will could be set aside as having been obtained by undue influence. Viscount Haldane said: ‘As was said in the House of Lords when Boyce v Rossborough (1856) 6 HLC 2, 49, was decided, in order to set aside the will of a person of sound mind, it is not sufficient to show that the circumstances attending its execution are consistent with hypothesis of its having been obtained by undue influence. It must be shown that they are inconsistent with a contrary hypothesis. Undue influence, in order to render a will void, must be an inference which can justifiably be described by a person looking at the matter judicially to have caused the execution of a paper pretending to express a testator’s mind, but which really does not express his mind, but something else which he did not really mean . . It is also important in this connection to bear in mind that which was laid down by Sir James Hannen in Wingrove v Wingrove (1885) 11 PD 81 and quoted with approval by Lord MacNaughten in delivering the judgment of this Board in Baudains v Richardson (1906) AC 169, and it is not sufficient to establish that a person has the power unduly to overbear the will of the testator. It must be shown that in the particular case the power was exercised, and that it was by means of the exercise of that power that the will was obtained.’

Viscount Haldane
[1920] AC 349
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Baudains v Richardson PC 1906
The Board considered the quality of the influence necessary to establish undue influence: ‘Influence may be degrading and pernicious and yet not undue influence in the eyes of the law’ . .
Cited – Wingrove v Wingrove 19-Nov-1885
To establish the presence of undue influence it is not enough to establish that a person has the power to overbear the will of the testator. It must be shown that the will was a result of the exercise of that power
Sir James Hannen said: ‘To . .

Cited by:
Cited – Killick v Pountney and Another; Re Killick Deceased ChD 31-Mar-1999
Mr Killick’s will was challenged on the basis that it had been executed under undue influence, and that he had suffered dementia. The deceased’s nephew alleged that the beneficiaries had used their position to influence him to make the will in their . .
Cited – Potter v Potter FdNI 5-Feb-2003
The testator’s capacity to make his will was challenged. He had lived alone without electricity, but his doctor said he was known to him and was ‘with it’. Evidence from a member of staff at the solicitor’s office supported the doctor’s description. . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Undue Influence, Wills and Probate

Updated: 05 January 2022; Ref: scu.213658

Gill v Woodall and Others: ChD 5 Oct 2009

The claimant challenged her late mother’s will which had left the entire estate to a charity. She asserted lack of knowledge and approval and coercion, and also an estoppel. The will included a note explaining that no gift had been made because she had been provided for.
Held: The challenge to the will succeeded. The testatrix had suffered agorophobia, and on being taken to the solicitors to execute a will would have her will overborn by irrational fears. Given also the additional circumstances of her domineering husband and the oddity of the provisions of the will when compared to her views when expressed, the claimant had made out that her will had not been freely given.

Allen QC J
[2009] EWHC 834 (Ch)
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Guardhouse v Blackburn 1866
. .
Cited – Atter v Atkinson 1869
. .
Cited – Harter v Harter 1873
. .
Cited – Tyrrell v Painton CA 1894
The rule throwing upon the party propounding a will the burden of showing that it expresses the true will of the deceased is not confined to cases where the will is prepared by a person taking a benefit under it. After reference to Barry v Butlin . .
Cited – In the Estate of Fuld, decd (No 3) ChD 1967
The deceased had spent relatively equal periods in two or more countries. The parties disputed his domicile.
Held: A blind adherence to foreign law can not be always expected of an English Court. The legal relationship between a person and the . .
Cited – In re Morris Deceased ChD 1970
A mistake was made in the drafting of a codicil by which, inter alia, the testatrix had revoked cl 7 of her will. It was clear from the evidence that the testatrix had never intended to revoke the whole of that clause but only to revoke the . .
Cited – Fuller v Strum CA 7-Dec-2001
The appellant challenged a finding that only part of a will was valid. The part made a gift to his son, ‘albeit very grudgingly’, saying ‘I hate him like poison, that Irish bastard.’
Held: The onus on the propounder of a will to show that it . .
Cited – Richards v Allan ChD 2001
The court found that the will at issue was prepared under suspicious circumstances which included the fact that the idea of the will was conceived and implemented in a period after a significant hospitalisation where the physical and mental . .
Cited – Fulton v Andrew HL 1875
The will was professionally drawn but through agency of the executors, specific legatees and residuary legatees. The Court of Probate directed the case to be tried at the assizes where the judge asked the opinion of the jury on a number of questions . .
Cited – Hoff and others v Atherton CA 19-Nov-2004
Appeals were made against pronouncements for the validity of a will and against the validity of an earlier will. The solicitor drawing the will was to receive a benefit, and had requested an independent solicitor to see the testatrix and ensure that . .
Cited – Buckenham v Dickinson ChD 1992
The testator was very old, partially blind and deaf. A next door neighbour who had great advantage of long experience in old peoples’ homes, indicated that the testator was of such poor sight and hearing that he was virtually cut off from everything . .
Cited – Hall v Hall 1868
Even a reprehensible placing of pressure on a testator will not always be undue influence so as to avoid the will: ‘To make a good will a man must be a free agent. But all influences are not unlawful. Persuasion, appeals to the affection or ties of . .
Cited – Parfitt v Lawless 1872
When a court considers the preparation and execution of a will, there can be no presumption of undue influence. . .
Cited – Wingrove v Wingrove 19-Nov-1885
To establish the presence of undue influence it is not enough to establish that a person has the power to overbear the will of the testator. It must be shown that the will was a result of the exercise of that power
Sir James Hannen said: ‘To . .
Cited – Sidney Bolsom Investment Trust Ltd v E Karmios and Co (London) Ltd CA 1956
The tenants had intended to ask for a new tenancy of 14 years, but by mistake, the notice of request implied a new lease of seven years. The request nevertheless set out the duration of the proposed new tenancy. The tenants tried to bring in parol . .
Cited – Crabb v Arun District Council CA 23-Jul-1975
The plaintiff was led to believe that he would acquire a right of access to his land. In reliance on that belief he sold off part of his land, leaving the remainder landlocked.
Held: His claim to have raised an equity was upheld. The plaintiff . .
Cited – Greasley v Cooke 1980
For a proprietary estoppel to arise the plaintiff must have incurred expenditure or otherwise have prejudiced himself or acted to his detriment. However, once it has been established that promises were made, and that there has been conduct by the . .
Cited – Taylors Fashions Ltd v Liverpool Victoria Trustees Co Ltd ChD 1981
The fundamental principle that equity is concerned to prevent unconscionable conduct permeates all the elements of the doctrine of estoppel. In the light of the more recent cases, the principle ‘requires a very much broader approach which is . .
Cited – JT Developments v Quinn and Another CA 1990
The plaintiff told the defendant it was willing to grant a lease on the same terms as those contained in a new tenancy that the plaintiff had recently granted to the tenant of a nearby shop, also owned by the plaintiff. The defendant carried out . .
Cited – Gillett v Holt and Another CA 23-Mar-2000
Repeated Assurances Created Equitable Estoppel
Repeated assurances, given over years, that the claimant would acquire an interest in property on the death of the person giving the re-assurance, and upon which the claimant relied to his detriment, could found a claim of equitable estoppel. The . .
Cited – Jennings v Rice, Wilson, Marsh, Norris, Norris, and Reed CA 22-Feb-2002
The claimant asserted a proprietary estoppel against the respondents. He had worked for the deceased over many years, for little payment, and doing more and more for her. Though he still worked full time at first, he came to spend nights at the . .
Cited – Thorner v Major and others HL 25-Mar-2009
The deceased had made a will including a gift to the claimant, but had then revoked the will. The claimant asserted that an estoppel had been created in his favour over a farm, and that the defendant administrators of the promisor’s estate held it . .
Cited – Uglow v Uglow and others CA 27-Jul-2004
The deceased had in 1976 made a promise to the claimant. The promise was not honoured in the will, and the claimant asserted a proprietary estoppel.
Held: The judge was right to have found that the promise was bound up with the claimant being . .
Cited – Yeoman’s Row Management Ltd and Another v Cobbe HL 30-Jul-2008
The parties agreed in principle for the sale of land with potential development value. Considerable sums were spent, and permission achieved, but the owner then sought to renegotiate the deal.
Held: The appeal succeeded in part. The finding . .
Cited – Edwards v Edwards and others ChD 3-May-2007
A son of the deceased alleged that his brother had used his undue influence over their mother to persuade her to change her will to exclude him from it.
Held: Lewison J set out the correct approach to an allegation of undue influence, saying: . .
Cited – Thorner v Major and others CA 2-Jul-2008
The deceased had written a will, revoked it but then not made another. The claimant had worked for the deceased understanding that property would be left to him, and now claimed that the estate property was held under a trust for him.
Held: . .
Cited – Edwards v Edwards and others ChD 3-May-2007
Family members challenged the will saying that one son had exercised undue influence over the testatrix.
Held: The beneficiary son had poisoned his mother’s mind against the other family members. The will would be set aside for his undue . .

Cited by:
Appeal from – Gill v Woodall and Others CA 14-Dec-2010
The court considered the authorities as to the capacity to make a will, and gave detailed guidance.
Held: As a matter of common sense and authority, the fact that a will has been properly executed, after being prepared by a solicitor and read . .
Cited – Wharton v Bancroft and Others ChD 8-Dec-2011
Mr Wharton anticipated his imminent death. He made a will leaving everything to his long time partner in anticipation of their marriage, married her and died a few days later. The will made no provision for his first wife or their now adult . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Wills and Probate, Undue Influence

Updated: 05 January 2022; Ref: scu.381738

Wharton v Bancroft and Others: ChD 8 Dec 2011

Mr Wharton anticipated his imminent death. He made a will leaving everything to his long time partner in anticipation of their marriage, married her and died a few days later. The will made no provision for his first wife or their now adult daughters who challenged the will for lack of capacity and undue influence: ‘that Mr Wharton was terminally ill and on medication may say something about the opportunity to exercise undue influence: but it says nothing about whether that opportunity was taken’.
Held: The challenge failed and the court pronounced for the will. As to undue influence, the court had to be minded as to the burden and standard of proof, and ‘Is evidence of a departure from imprecisely expressed intentions evidence which is sufficiently cogent to persuade me that the explanation for the departure is that Mr Wharton’s volition was overborne by coercion, rather than that on his deathbed he saw things differently than he had in life? I answer that question in the negative. The imminence of death undoubtedly caused Mr Wharton to reassess matters. That is why he intended to get married. It was in the light of that intention that he made the 2008 Will. I do not regard it as suspicious that a ‘husband’ should leave to his ‘wife’ of 32 years the entirety of his estate, even if he is a rich man. The difference between the former indications and the actual terms of the 2008 Will are not in this case sufficiently cogent evidence to found the inference of coercion (particularly in the light of the consistent advice Mr Wharton had received as to the way of mitigating the now-imminent tax charge). I see no reason to treat Mr Wharton’s statements to Mr Bancroft (and the implication of his statement to Zena) about leaving his estate to Maureen as anything other than expressions of free will.’
The solicitor was not to be criticised for not following the ‘golden rule’ of securing the attendance of an independent medical expert to confirm the tetstaor’s capacity: ‘But testamentary capacity is not in issue in this case. I consider the criticism of Mr Bancroft for a failure to follow ‘the golden rule’ to be misplaced. His job was to take the will of a dying man. A solicitor so placed cannot simply conjure up a medical attendant. He must obtain his client’s consent to the attendance of and examination by a doctor. He must procure the attendance of a doctor (preferably the testator’s own) who is willing to accept the instruction. He must make arrangement for any relevant payment (securing his client’s agreement). I do not think Mr Bancroft is to be criticised for deciding to make his own assessment (accepted as correct) and to get on with the job of drawing a will in contemplation of marriage so that Mr Wharton could marry. I certainly do not think that ‘the golden rule’ has in the present case anything to do with the ease with which I may infer coercion. The simple fact is that Mr Wharton was a terminally ill but capable testator.’

Norris J
[2011] EWHC 3250 (Ch)
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Wingrove v Wingrove 19-Nov-1885
To establish the presence of undue influence it is not enough to establish that a person has the power to overbear the will of the testator. It must be shown that the will was a result of the exercise of that power
Sir James Hannen said: ‘To . .
Cited – Cowderoy v Cranfield ChD 24-Jun-2011
cowderoy_cranfieldChD2011
The claimant challenged a will alleging lack of capacity, non-approval and undue influence.
Held: Morgan J discussed the standard of proof applicable: ‘The requisite standard is proof on the balance of probabilities but as the allegation of . .
Cited – Gill v Woodall and Others CA 14-Dec-2010
The court considered the authorities as to the capacity to make a will, and gave detailed guidance.
Held: As a matter of common sense and authority, the fact that a will has been properly executed, after being prepared by a solicitor and read . .
Cited – Key and Another v Key and Others ChD 5-Mar-2010
The will was challenged for want of testamentary capacity. The testator was 89 years old, and the will was made within a week of the death of his wife of 65 years and without the solicitor having taken any proper steps to satisfy himself as to the . .
Cited – Gill v Woodall and Others ChD 5-Oct-2009
The claimant challenged her late mother’s will which had left the entire estate to a charity. She asserted lack of knowledge and approval and coercion, and also an estoppel. The will included a note explaining that no gift had been made because she . .
Cited – Killick v Pountney and Another; Re Killick Deceased ChD 31-Mar-1999
Mr Killick’s will was challenged on the basis that it had been executed under undue influence, and that he had suffered dementia. The deceased’s nephew alleged that the beneficiaries had used their position to influence him to make the will in their . .
Cited – Channon and Another v Perkins (A Firm) CA 1-Dec-2005
A will was challenged by the family. The witnesses had said that they did not remember witnessing the deceased sign the will, and would have done. The principle beneficiary appealed refusal of admission to probate of the will.
Held: Neuberger . .
Cited – Edwards v Edwards and others ChD 3-May-2007
Family members challenged the will saying that one son had exercised undue influence over the testatrix.
Held: The beneficiary son had poisoned his mother’s mind against the other family members. The will would be set aside for his undue . .
Cited – Hoff and others v Atherton CA 19-Nov-2004
Appeals were made against pronouncements for the validity of a will and against the validity of an earlier will. The solicitor drawing the will was to receive a benefit, and had requested an independent solicitor to see the testatrix and ensure that . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Wills and Probate, Undue Influence, Legal Professions

Updated: 05 January 2022; Ref: scu.449871

Baudains v Richardson: PC 1906

The Board considered the quality of the influence necessary to establish undue influence: ‘Influence may be degrading and pernicious and yet not undue influence in the eyes of the law’

Lord MacNaughten
[1906] AC 169
England and Wales
Citing:
Approved – Wingrove v Wingrove 19-Nov-1885
To establish the presence of undue influence it is not enough to establish that a person has the power to overbear the will of the testator. It must be shown that the will was a result of the exercise of that power
Sir James Hannen said: ‘To . .

Cited by:
Cited – Craig v Lamoureux HL 1920
The House considered the facts to be established before a will could be set aside as having been obtained by undue influence. Viscount Haldane said: ‘As was said in the House of Lords when Boyce v Rossborough (1856) 6 HLC 2, 49, was decided, in . .
Cited – Thompson and others v Thompson and others FdNI 16-Feb-2003
The family sought to challenge the validity of the will, saying the testator lacked capacity, and that he had made the will under the undue influence of the beneficiaries.
Held: There was clear evidence that the testator, whilst changeable, . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Undue Influence, Wills and Probate

Updated: 05 January 2022; Ref: scu.213659

Killick v Pountney and Another; Re Killick Deceased: ChD 31 Mar 1999

Mr Killick’s will was challenged on the basis that it had been executed under undue influence, and that he had suffered dementia. The deceased’s nephew alleged that the beneficiaries had used their position to influence him to make the will in their favour. The court was asked to deal with the matter on affidavit evidence alone, the first defendant failing to appear to give evidence to defend the will.
Held: A judge in a contested probate case had an inquisitorial function seeking truth, and should be ready to see through attempts to manoeuvre the court. It was for a party who asserted undue influence to prove it. Where there was evidence of improper influence, the additional presence of some enfeeblement in the testator would make it easier to find that such influence was ‘undue’, but evidence of such infirmity does not itself establish undue influence. Adverse inferences should not normally be drawn, but the facts here allowed such an inference of undue influence. The fact that the defendant did not appear at court was not conclusive against him.

James Munby QC
Times 30-Apr-1999, Independent 10-May-1999, (2000) 1 WTLR 41
Citing:
Cited – Boyse v Rossborough HL 1857
In order to set aside the will of a person of sound mind, it is not sufficient to show that the circumstances attending its execution are consistent with hypothesis of its having been obtained by undue influence. It must be shown that they are . .
Cited – Hall v Hall 1868
Even a reprehensible placing of pressure on a testator will not always be undue influence so as to avoid the will: ‘To make a good will a man must be a free agent. But all influences are not unlawful. Persuasion, appeals to the affection or ties of . .
Cited – Wingrove v Wingrove 19-Nov-1885
To establish the presence of undue influence it is not enough to establish that a person has the power to overbear the will of the testator. It must be shown that the will was a result of the exercise of that power
Sir James Hannen said: ‘To . .
Cited – Craig v Lamoureux HL 1920
The House considered the facts to be established before a will could be set aside as having been obtained by undue influence. Viscount Haldane said: ‘As was said in the House of Lords when Boyce v Rossborough (1856) 6 HLC 2, 49, was decided, in . .
Cited – Freeman v Cox 1878
. .

Cited by:
Cited – Wharton v Bancroft and Others ChD 8-Dec-2011
Mr Wharton anticipated his imminent death. He made a will leaving everything to his long time partner in anticipation of their marriage, married her and died a few days later. The will made no provision for his first wife or their now adult . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Wills and Probate, Undue Influence

Updated: 05 January 2022; Ref: scu.82774

Wingrove v Wingrove: 19 Nov 1885

To establish the presence of undue influence it is not enough to establish that a person has the power to overbear the will of the testator. It must be shown that the will was a result of the exercise of that power
Sir James Hannen said: ‘To be undue influence in the eyes of the law there must be – to sum it up in a word – coercion. It must not be a case in which a person has been induced by means such as I have suggested to you to come to a conclusion that he or she make a will in a particular person’s favour, because if the testator has only been persuaded or induced by considerations which you may condemn, really and truly to intend to give his property to another, though you may disapprove of the act, yet it is strictly legitimate in the sense of its being legal. It is only when the will of the person who becomes a testator is coerced in to doing that which he or she does not desire to do that it is undue influence.
The coercion may of course be of different kinds, it may be in the grossest form, such as actual confinement or violence, or a person in the last days or hours of life may have become so weak and feeble, that a very little pressure will be sufficient to bring about the desired result, and it may even be that the mere talking to him at that stage of illness and pressing something upon him may so fatigue the brain, that the sick person may be induced, for quiteness’ sake, to do anything. This would equally be coercion, though not actual violence.
These illustrations will sufficiently bring home to your minds that even very immoral considerations either on the part of the testator, or of someone else offering them, do not amount to undue influence unless the testator is in such condition, that if he could speak his wishes to the last, he would say ‘this is not my wish, but I must do it’.
There remains another general observation that I must make and it is this, that it is not sufficient to establish that a person has the power unduly to overbear the will of the testator. It is necessary to prove that in the particular case that power was exercised, and that it was by means of the exercise of that power, that the will such as it is, has been produced.’

Sir James Hannen
[1885] 11 PD 81, [1885] UKLawRpPro 46
Commonlii
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Killick v Pountney and Another; Re Killick Deceased ChD 31-Mar-1999
Mr Killick’s will was challenged on the basis that it had been executed under undue influence, and that he had suffered dementia. The deceased’s nephew alleged that the beneficiaries had used their position to influence him to make the will in their . .
Approved – Baudains v Richardson PC 1906
The Board considered the quality of the influence necessary to establish undue influence: ‘Influence may be degrading and pernicious and yet not undue influence in the eyes of the law’ . .
Cited – Craig v Lamoureux HL 1920
The House considered the facts to be established before a will could be set aside as having been obtained by undue influence. Viscount Haldane said: ‘As was said in the House of Lords when Boyce v Rossborough (1856) 6 HLC 2, 49, was decided, in . .
Cited – Potter v Potter FdNI 5-Feb-2003
The testator’s capacity to make his will was challenged. He had lived alone without electricity, but his doctor said he was known to him and was ‘with it’. Evidence from a member of staff at the solicitor’s office supported the doctor’s description. . .
Cited – In re Good, deceased; Carapeto v Good and Others ChD 19-Apr-2002
The normal rules as to costs contained in the CPR should also be followed in probate actions save only that the judge should also take account of the guidance in the Spiers case, where an alternative costs order might be made if the testator or . .
Cited – Ark and Others v Kaur and Others ChD 17-Sep-2010
The proponents sought to have the will (executed in India) admitted to probate. The daughters denied that he had executed it. The court heard detailed explanations of the procedures said to have been undertaken for the making and execution of the . .
Cited – Wharton v Bancroft and Others ChD 8-Dec-2011
Mr Wharton anticipated his imminent death. He made a will leaving everything to his long time partner in anticipation of their marriage, married her and died a few days later. The will made no provision for his first wife or their now adult . .
Cited – Gill v Woodall and Others ChD 5-Oct-2009
The claimant challenged her late mother’s will which had left the entire estate to a charity. She asserted lack of knowledge and approval and coercion, and also an estoppel. The will included a note explaining that no gift had been made because she . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Undue Influence, Wills and Probate

Updated: 05 January 2022; Ref: scu.188024

De Wind v Wedge: ChD 19 Mar 2008

Brother and sister contested the devolution of their mother’s house. The sister had fallen into debt and been given much financial assistance by other members of the family. The brother said that to rebalance that, the mother had given the house to him. The sister claimed undue influence.

Patten J
[2008] EWHC 514 (Ch)
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Goldsworthy v Brickell CA 1987
The plaintiff had granted a tenancy of his substantial farm to the first defendant, and made him a partner. The first defendant later bought out the plaintiff who was in turn later reconciled with his only son who had previously had some . .
Cited – Royal Bank of Scotland v Etridge (No 2); Barclays Bank plc v Harris; Midland Bank plc v Wallace, etc HL 11-Oct-2001
Wives had charged the family homes to secure their husband’s business borrowings, and now resisted possession orders, claiming undue influence.
Held: Undue influence is an equitable protection created to undo the effect of excess influence of . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Trusts, Undue Influence

Updated: 13 December 2021; Ref: scu.266471

Wright v Carter: CA 1903

The plaintiff sought to set aside a gift that he had made to his solicitor asserting undue influence.
Vaughan Williams LJ said: ‘. . whenever you have these fiduciary relations (and in the present case we have to deal with the particular fiduciary relation of solicitor and client), the moment the relation is established, there arises a presumption of influence, which presumption will continue as long as the relation, such as that of solicitor and client, continues, or at all events until it can be clearly inferred that the influence had come to an end.’ and ‘It is perfectly plain that in the case of a gift the rule applied by the Court of Equity is much more stringent . . than the rule that is applied in the case of a bargain or a contract’
Stirling LJ said: ‘The rules of the Court require this to be proved in a transaction of sale in which the solicitor is a purchaser-first, the client must be fully informed; secondly, he must have competent independent advice; and, thirdly, the price which is given must be a. fair one. The onus of proving all this lies on the solicitor.’
Cozens Hardy LJ said: ‘Assuming that the transaction is to be treated as a sale by the plaintiff to his solicitor, Mr. Carter .. I am clearly of opinion that it rests upon Mr. Carter to justify the sale and to shew that ‘the transaction was perfectly fair, that the client knew what he was doing, and that a fair price was given’.

Vaughan Williams, Stirling, Cozens Hardy LJJ
[1903] 1 Ch 27
England and Wales
Citing:
Approved – Powell v Powell 1900
Strong moral pressure was applied by a stepmother to a girl who was only just twenty one.
Held: She was regarded as not really capable of dealing irrevocably with her parent or guardian in the matter of a substantial settlement. Where a . .
Cited – Tomson v Judge 25-Jun-1855
A, who was proved to have entertained feelings of peculiar personal regard for B, his solicitor, conveyed to him certain rea1 estate by a deed, on the face of it a purchase deed the consideration was andpound;1000, the real value upwards of . .

Cited by:
Cited – Royal Bank of Scotland v Etridge, Loftus and Another v Etridge and Another, Etridge v Pritchard Englefield (Merged With Robert Gore and Co ) Midland Bank Plc v Wallace and Another (No 2) CA 31-Jul-1998
Detailed guidance was given on the quality of independent legal advice, which would be required to be given to wives signing charges to secure their husbands’ business etc accounts on the matrimonial home. The interaction of legal advice and . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Undue Influence, Legal Professions

Updated: 06 December 2021; Ref: scu.224820

Powell v Powell: 1900

Strong moral pressure was applied by a stepmother to a girl who was only just twenty one.
Held: She was regarded as not really capable of dealing irrevocably with her parent or guardian in the matter of a substantial settlement. Where a solicitor is instructed to advise a person who may be subject to the undue influence of another he must bear in mind that it is not sufficient that she understands the nature and effect of the transaction if she is so affected by the influence of the other that she cannot make an independent decision of her own. It is not sufficient to explain the documentation and ensure she understands the nature of the transaction and wishes to carry it out. He must arrange independent advice if necessary.

Farwell J
[1900] 1 Ch 243
England and Wales
Cited by:
Approved – Wright v Carter CA 1903
The plaintiff sought to set aside a gift that he had made to his solicitor asserting undue influence.
Vaughan Williams LJ said: ‘. . whenever you have these fiduciary relations (and in the present case we have to deal with the particular . .
Cited – Royal Bank of Scotland v Etridge, Loftus and Another v Etridge and Another, Etridge v Pritchard Englefield (Merged With Robert Gore and Co ) Midland Bank Plc v Wallace and Another (No 2) CA 31-Jul-1998
Detailed guidance was given on the quality of independent legal advice, which would be required to be given to wives signing charges to secure their husbands’ business etc accounts on the matrimonial home. The interaction of legal advice and . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Undue Influence, Legal Professions

Updated: 06 December 2021; Ref: scu.224819

Abbey National Plc v Tufts: CA 16 Feb 1999

A bankrupt husband, a mortgage broker, had applied for mortgage for his wife, fraudulently claiming that she had income. She appealed against an order for possession on the basis that he was agent of the bank, and that therefore the bank was fixed with notice of the fraud. She claimed that she had operated under the undue influence of her husband, and that, again, the bank was fixed with notice. That the husband was the agent of the bank was rejected. No equitable right arose because she was herself party to the fraud. The section dealt with issues of title, not lending decision. The appeal was dismissed.

Gazette 24-Feb-1999, [1999] EWCA Civ 794
Law of Property Act 1925 199 (1) (ii) (a
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Re Hampshire Land Company 9-Jul-1896
A company had borrowed from a building society. The borrowing was not properly authorised by resolution of the shareholders in general meeting The court was asked whether whether the knowledge of the company secretary common to both the company and . .
Cited – Quennell v Maltby CA 15-Nov-1978
A house was mortgaged to a bank. The house was then let to tenants at an annual rate of andpound;1,000. The tenants were protected as against the mortgagor by the Rent Acts. The tenancy was not binding on the bank. The mortgagor’s wife took a . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Agency, Undue Influence, Banking, Equity

Updated: 29 November 2021; Ref: scu.145709

Daniel v Drew: CA 6 May 2005

The Aunt had succeeded in her claim that her retirement from a family trust of a farm had been procured by the undue influence of her nephew. The nephew now appealed. She had assigned her interest to her son, who then fell into disagreement about the rent to be paid by the farm to the trust, and about repairs. The appellant contrived a visit to the aunt, and persuaded her to sign a form to resign as trustee there and then after threatening her with court proceedings. She was 85. The form was not by deed and was invalid. He returned, gained admission and the execution of a deed, but misrepresented its contents.
Held: The appeal failed. This was is anything a case of express undue influence. To be undue influence: ‘The donor may be led but she must not be driven and her will must be the offspring of her own volition, not a record of someone else’s. There is no undue influence unless the donor if she were free and informed could say ‘This is not my wish but I must do it’.’ It was not clear that a threat of legal proceedings which was not unlawful might establish undue influence, but it can do so in appropriate circumstances. The defendant had no prospect of overturning the judge’s decision. As to the two classes of undue influence: ‘the difference between the two classes is that in the case of actual undue influence something has to be done to twist the mind of the donor whereas in cases of presumed undue influence it is more a case of what has not been done namely ensuring that independent advice is available to the donor.’

Ward LJ
[2005] EWCA Civ 507, Times 18-May-2005
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Royal Bank of Scotland v Etridge (No 2); Barclays Bank plc v Harris; Midland Bank plc v Wallace, etc HL 11-Oct-2001
Wives had charged the family homes to secure their husband’s business borrowings, and now resisted possession orders, claiming undue influence.
Held: Undue influence is an equitable protection created to undo the effect of excess influence of . .
Cited – Allcard v Skinner CA 1887
The donor had parted with almost all her property. She now sought to have the transaction set aside for undue influence.
Held: Where a wife has entered into a gratuitous transaction with her husband, the burden was on the husband as donee to . .
Cited – Huguenin v Baseley 1807
When undue influence is alleged, the law will investigate the way the intention to enter into the transaction was secured. Lord Eldon LC said: ‘Take it that she (the plaintiff) intended to give it to him (the defendant): it is by no means out of the . .

Cited by:
Cited – Hewett v First Plus Financial Group Plc CA 24-Mar-2010
The appellant appealed against a mortgage possession order, saying that she had been misled into signing the charge by a non-disclosure by her husband of an extra-marital affair he was conducting. The bank had not met the standards set in Etridge, . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Undue Influence

Updated: 11 November 2021; Ref: scu.224789

Barclay’s Bank Plc v Varenka Goff: CA 3 May 2001

The respondent executed an all monies charge over her property to secure the liability of companies in which she had no direct interest. The bank insisted that she employ solicitors to give her independent advice. The bank sought to enforce its security, and she claimed it was signed under undue influence, of which the bank was fixed with constructive notice. The bank appealed successfully against the order setting aside the charge. Although the bank were fixed with constructive notice of the undue influence, the employment of the independent solicitor was sufficient to discharge that constructive notice. That was only disapplied where no competent solicitor could have advised the wife to enter into the transaction, and that did not apply in this case.

Lord Justice Pill, Lord Justice Mantell, and Lord Justice Buxton
Gazette 17-May-2001, [2001] EWCA Civ 635, [2001] Lloyds Rep Bank 189, [2001] NPC 88, [2001] 2 All ER (Comm) 847
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Disapproved in part (at 705) – Royal Bank of Scotland v Etridge, Loftus and Another v Etridge and Another, Etridge v Pritchard Englefield (Merged With Robert Gore and Co ) Midland Bank Plc v Wallace and Another (No 2) CA 31-Jul-1998
Detailed guidance was given on the quality of independent legal advice, which would be required to be given to wives signing charges to secure their husbands’ business etc accounts on the matrimonial home. The interaction of legal advice and . .
Cited – Midland Bank Plc v Kidwai and Another CA 5-Jun-1995
A bank was not under a full duty to advise a wife of a business client of the risks of signing a charge. The bank was not giving independent advice. . .
Cited – Portman Building Society v Dusangh and Others CA 19-Apr-2000
The defendant sought to set aside an order for possession under a mortgage.
Held: Where a case was strong enough on its face in terms of conduct and terms, unconscionable conduct could be inferred if there was no explanation offered to . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Undue Influence, Banking, Legal Professions

Updated: 09 November 2021; Ref: scu.147528

Re Coomber, Coomber v Coomber: ChD 1911

A father had been assisted in his business by his second son. After the father’s death, the mother transferred the business assets to that second son. After her death, the elder son sought the transfer of those assets back into her estate, saying that in the absence of her having taken independent advice, the younger son’s position brought an implication of undue influence.
Held: The mother’s actions were adequately explained by her wish to do what she thought her husband would have wanted.
Fletcher Moulton LJ summarised the general rules applicable to cases of persons who are competent to form an opinion of their own: ‘All that is necessary is that some independent person, free from any taint of the relationship, or of the consideration of interest which would affect the act, should put clearly before the person what are the nature and the consequences of the act. It is for adult persons of competent mind to decide whether they will do an act, and I do not think that independent and competent advice means independent and competent approval. It simply means that the advice shall be removed entirely from the suspected atmosphere; and that from the clear language of an independent mind, they should know precisely what they are doing.’
and ‘It is possible that there might have been a transaction between the son and the mother, with regard to a purchase of this leasehold property, in which the son would have had to shew that he had given her full information in every possible way as to the value. But in this case the gift was not based on value in any way at all. The mother knew the house, she had lived in it for twenty years, and knew the son was managing it. She meant it to go to the son whatever its value was . .’

Neville J, Fletcher Moulton L
[1911] 1 Ch 174
England and Wales
Citing:
Appealed to – Re Coomber; Coomber v Coomber CA 2-Jan-1911
The Coomber family sold beer in Battersea. Coomber Senior had increasingly relied on his second son. After his father’s death, the second son continued to run the business. His mother shortly afterwards assigned both the licence and the premises to . .

Cited by:
Appeal from – Re Coomber; Coomber v Coomber CA 2-Jan-1911
The Coomber family sold beer in Battersea. Coomber Senior had increasingly relied on his second son. After his father’s death, the second son continued to run the business. His mother shortly afterwards assigned both the licence and the premises to . .
Cited – Royal Bank of Scotland v Etridge (No 2); Barclays Bank plc v Harris; Midland Bank plc v Wallace, etc HL 11-Oct-2001
Wives had charged the family homes to secure their husband’s business borrowings, and now resisted possession orders, claiming undue influence.
Held: Undue influence is an equitable protection created to undo the effect of excess influence of . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Trusts, Undue Influence

Leading Case

Updated: 09 November 2021; Ref: scu.222821

Turnbull and Co v Duval: PC 1902

Mr Duval owed three separate sums to a firm Turnbull and Co including andpound;1,000 owed to the Jamaican branch for beer. Turnbulls’ manager and agent in Jamaica was a Mr Campbell. Mr Campbell was also an executor and trustee of a will under which Mrs Duval had a beneficial interest. Mr Campbell threatened to stop supplying beer to Mr Duval unless security was given for the debts owed and, with Mr Campbell’s knowledge, a document was prepared under which Mrs Duval charged her beneficial interest under the will to secure the payment of all debts owed by Mr Duval to Turnbull i.e. not only the money owed for beer but all the debts. Mr Duval put pressure on Mrs Duval to sign the document. She was under the impression that the document was to secure the beer debt only.
Held: A transaction may be set aside for misrepresentation or undue influence whether it was procured by the misrepresentation or undue influence of the party seeking to uphold the transaction or that of a third party.
Lord Lindley: ‘In the face of such evidence, their Lordships are of opinion that it is quite impossible to uphold the security given by Mrs. Duval. It is open to the double objection of having been obtained by a trustee from his cestui que trust by pressure through her husband and without independent advice, and of having been obtained by a husband from his wife by pressure and concealment of material facts. Whether the security could be upheld if the only ground for impeaching it was that Mrs. Duval had no independent advice has not really to be determined. Their Lordships are not prepared to say it could not. But there is an additional and even stronger ground for impeaching it. It is, in their Lordships’ opinion, quite clear that Mrs. Duval was pressed by her husband to sign, and did sign, the document, which was very different from what she supposed it to be, and a document of the true nature of which she had no conception. It is impossible to hold that Campbell or Turnbull and Co. are unaffected by such pressure and ignorance. They left everything to Duval, and must abide the consequences.’

Lord Lindley
[1902] AC 429
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Barclays Bank Plc v O’Brien and Another HL 21-Oct-1993
The wife joined in a charge on the family home to secure her husband’s business borrowings. The husband was found to have misrepresented to her the effect of the deed, and the bank had been aware that she might be reluctant to sign the deed.
Cited – Royal Bank of Scotland v Etridge (No 2); Barclays Bank plc v Harris; Midland Bank plc v Wallace, etc HL 11-Oct-2001
Wives had charged the family homes to secure their husband’s business borrowings, and now resisted possession orders, claiming undue influence.
Held: Undue influence is an equitable protection created to undo the effect of excess influence of . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Contract, Undue Influence

Leading Case

Updated: 02 November 2021; Ref: scu.180580

Marsh v Tyrrell: 1828

Revocation of Earlier Will needs Knowleedge

The testatrix was found to have made a new Will, at a time when her faculties were much impaired, under the undue influence of her husband, who under that Will took her estate absolutely subject only to some small legacies, whereas under the previous Will of the testatrix the principal objects of her bounty were quite different.
Held: To successfully revoke a former will by a new Will it was necessary to prove that the testatrix recollected the general contents of the previous Will.

Sir John Nicholl
(1828) 2 Hagg Ecc 84
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Hoff and others v Atherton CA 19-Nov-2004
Appeals were made against pronouncements for the validity of a will and against the validity of an earlier will. The solicitor drawing the will was to receive a benefit, and had requested an independent solicitor to see the testatrix and ensure that . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Wills and Probate, Undue Influence

Leading Case

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.219626

Hewett v First Plus Financial Group Plc: CA 24 Mar 2010

The appellant appealed against a mortgage possession order, saying that she had been misled into signing the charge by a non-disclosure by her husband of an extra-marital affair he was conducting. The bank had not met the standards set in Etridge, and knew that the primary purpose of the loan was to repay the husband’s credit card debts.
Held: A finding of undue influence does not depend, as a necessary pre-requisite, upon a conclusion that the victim made no decision of her own, or that her will and intention was completely overborne. In this case the appellant had placed a sufficient level of trust and confidence in her husband or a duty to arise toward her, and the husband’s affair was a fact material to the wife’s decision. Briggs LJ said: ‘The right to set aside the transaction arises not because, on a but for causation analysis, it would otherwise have been avoided, but because of the equitable wrong constituted by the abuse of confidence was part of the process by which the victim’s consent to it was obtained.’ The appellant’s decision was vitiated by the abuse of her trust.

Jacob, Leveson, Briggs, LJJ
[2010] EWCA Civ 312
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Huguenin v Baseley 1807
When undue influence is alleged, the law will investigate the way the intention to enter into the transaction was secured. Lord Eldon LC said: ‘Take it that she (the plaintiff) intended to give it to him (the defendant): it is by no means out of the . .
Cited – Allcard v Skinner CA 1887
The donor had parted with almost all her property. She now sought to have the transaction set aside for undue influence.
Held: Where a wife has entered into a gratuitous transaction with her husband, the burden was on the husband as donee to . .
Cited – Royal Bank of Scotland v Etridge (No 2); Barclays Bank plc v Harris; Midland Bank plc v Wallace, etc HL 11-Oct-2001
Wives had charged the family homes to secure their husband’s business borrowings, and now resisted possession orders, claiming undue influence.
Held: Undue influence is an equitable protection created to undo the effect of excess influence of . .
Cited – Daniel v Drew CA 6-May-2005
The Aunt had succeeded in her claim that her retirement from a family trust of a farm had been procured by the undue influence of her nephew. The nephew now appealed. She had assigned her interest to her son, who then fell into disagreement about . .
Cited – Thompson v Foy ChD 20-May-2009
Lewison J discussed the decision in Etridge: ‘In the light of the arguments before me, there are some additional observations I should make. First, although in Etridge Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead described the paradigm case of a relationship where . .
Cited – The Royal Bank of Scotland Plc v Chandra and Another ChD 28-Jan-2010
The bank sought to enforce guarantees supported by a charge on the defendants home. They said that the bank had by its actions in supporting further development of a project, released them from obligations to it.
Held: David Richards J . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Undue Influence

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.406411

Allcard v Skinner: CA 1887

The donor had parted with almost all her property. She now sought to have the transaction set aside for undue influence.
Held: Where a wife has entered into a gratuitous transaction with her husband, the burden was on the husband as donee to support the gift if it is so large as not to be reasonably accounted for on the ground of the relationship: Cotton LJ said: ‘the court interferes, not on the ground that any wrongful act has in fact been committed by the donee, but on the ground of public policy, and to prevent the relations which exist between the parties and the influence arising therefrom being abused.’
Lindley LJ said: ‘But if the gift is so large as not to be reasonably accounted for on the ground of friendship, relationship, charity, or other ordinary motives on which ordinary men act, the burden is upon the donee to support the gift.’

Bowen LJ The gifts should be set aside ‘unless it is shewn that the donor, at the time of making the gift, was allowed full and free opportunity for counsel and advice outside – the means of considering his or her worldly position and exercising an independent will about it.’ and ‘This is not a limitation placed on the action of the donor; it is a fetter placed upon the conscience of the recipient of the gift, and one which arises out of public policy and fair play.’

Lindley LJ ‘As no Court has ever attempted to define fraud so no Court has ever attempted to define undue influence, which includes one of its many varieties.’ He set out a first class of case: ‘There are the cases in which there has been some unfair and improper conduct, some coercion from outside, some over-reaching, some form of cheating, and generally, though not always, some personal advantage obtained by a donee placed in some close and confidential relation to the donor.’ ‘In this class of cases it has been considered necessary to show that the donor had independent advice, and was removed from the influence of the donee when the gift to him was made.’ and ‘The [the courts of Equity] have not shrunk from setting aside gifts made to persons in a position to exercise undue influence over the donors, although there has been no proof of the actual exercise of such influence; and the courts have done this on the avowed ground of the necessity of going this length in order to protect persons from the exercise of such influence under circumstances which render proof of it impossible. The courts have required proof of its non-exercise, and failing that proof, have set aside gifts otherwise unimpeachable.’ The mere existence of the influence is not enough: ‘But if the gift is so large as not to be reasonably accounted for on the ground of friendship, relationship, charity, or other ordinary motives on which ordinary men act, the burden is upon the donee to support the gift.’

Lindley LJ, Cotton LJ, Bowen LJ
(1887) 36 Ch D 145
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Huguenin v Baseley 1807
When undue influence is alleged, the law will investigate the way the intention to enter into the transaction was secured. Lord Eldon LC said: ‘Take it that she (the plaintiff) intended to give it to him (the defendant): it is by no means out of the . .

Cited by:
Cited – Franklyn Dailey v Harriet Dailey PC 2-Oct-2003
PC (British Virgin Islands) The husband and wife had developed a business together. Transfers between the parties had taken place and there were suspicions about misappropriation of money.
Held: The . .
Cited – Hammond v Osborn and Another CA 27-Jun-2002
Where there was any relationship of trust and confidence between parties, and a substantial gift was made by the one in whom that trust was placed, there would be a presumption of undue influence. Undue influence is a matter of public policy. In a . .
Cited – Niersmans v Pesticcio CA 1-Apr-2004
A house have been given by a man with learning difficulties to her sister. The case appealed an order that undue influence had applied.
Held: The gift failed despite the attempt at independent legal advice. The court reviewed the law of undue . .
Cited – R v Her Majesty’s Attorney-General for England and Wales PC 17-Mar-2003
PC (From Court of Appeal of New Zealand) T had been a member of the British SAS. Other members had written books and the Army sought to impose confidentiality contracts or to impose a return to their unit. R . .
Cited – Royal Bank of Scotland v Etridge (No 2); Barclays Bank plc v Harris; Midland Bank plc v Wallace, etc HL 11-Oct-2001
Wives had charged the family homes to secure their husband’s business borrowings, and now resisted possession orders, claiming undue influence.
Held: Undue influence is an equitable protection created to undo the effect of excess influence of . .
Cited – Daniel v Drew CA 6-May-2005
The Aunt had succeeded in her claim that her retirement from a family trust of a farm had been procured by the undue influence of her nephew. The nephew now appealed. She had assigned her interest to her son, who then fell into disagreement about . .
Cited – Bank of Credit and Commerce International SA v Aboody CA 1989
In a case where the defendant said that a mortgage had been signed from undue pressure the court may find actual undue influence as opposed to presumed undue influence. Slade LJ said: ‘Ever since the judgments of this court in Allcard v Skinner a . .
Cited – Randall v Randall ChD 30-Jul-2004
The executor sought to set aside gifts made by the deceased, an elderly aunt before her death to his brother, alleging undue influence.
Held: The recipient had acted falsely in failing to declare overpayments of benefits. The deceased had been . .
Cited – Barraclough v Mell and others ChD 1-Dec-2005
Moneys due under a will had been misdistributed. The correct beneficiary sought repayment. The executor sought to rely upon a trustee exemption clause.
Held: the tustee exemption clause was effective to protect the executor as such. She had . .
Cited – CIBC Mortgages Plc v Pitt and Another HL 21-Oct-1993
Mrs Pitt resisted an order for possession of the house saying that she had signed the mortgage only after misrepresentations by and the undue infuence of her husband who was acting as the bank’s agent.
Held: A bank was not put on enquiry as to . .
Cited – Hewett v First Plus Financial Group Plc CA 24-Mar-2010
The appellant appealed against a mortgage possession order, saying that she had been misled into signing the charge by a non-disclosure by her husband of an extra-marital affair he was conducting. The bank had not met the standards set in Etridge, . .
Cited – Thompson v Foy ChD 20-May-2009
Lewison J discussed the decision in Etridge: ‘In the light of the arguments before me, there are some additional observations I should make. First, although in Etridge Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead described the paradigm case of a relationship where . .
Cited – Brown v Stephenson ChD 23-Aug-2013
The claimant sought to have set aside transfers and declarations of trust made by her in the defendant’s favour, saying that they had been given under his undue influence taking advantage of her dyslexia, and by bullying.
Held: The claims of . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Undue Influence

Leading Case

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.187138

Hall v Hall: 1868

Even a reprehensible placing of pressure on a testator will not always be undue influence so as to avoid the will: ‘To make a good will a man must be a free agent. But all influences are not unlawful. Persuasion, appeals to the affection or ties of kindred, to a sentiment of gratitude for past services, or pity for future destitution, or the like – these are all legitimate, and may be fairly pressed on a testator. On the other hand, pressure of whatever character, whether acting on the fears or the hopes, if so exerted as to overpower the volition without convincing the judgement, is a species of restraint under which no valid will can be made. Importunity or threats, such as the testator has not the courage to resist, moral command asserted and yielded to for the sake of peace and quiet, or of escaping distress of mind or social discomfort, these, if carried to a degree in which the freeplay of the testator’s judgment, discretion or wishes is overborne will constitute undue influence, though no force is either used or threatened. In a word a testator may be led but not driven and his will must be the off-spring of his own volition and not the record of someone else’s’.
Sir JP Wilde
[1868] LR 1 P and D 481
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Killick v Pountney and Another; Re Killick Deceased ChD 31-Mar-1999
Mr Killick’s will was challenged on the basis that it had been executed under undue influence, and that he had suffered dementia. The deceased’s nephew alleged that the beneficiaries had used their position to influence him to make the will in their . .
Cited – Thompson and others v Thompson and others FdNI 16-Feb-2003
The family sought to challenge the validity of the will, saying the testator lacked capacity, and that he had made the will under the undue influence of the beneficiaries.
Held: There was clear evidence that the testator, whilst changeable, . .
Cited – Potter v Potter FdNI 5-Feb-2003
The testator’s capacity to make his will was challenged. He had lived alone without electricity, but his doctor said he was known to him and was ‘with it’. Evidence from a member of staff at the solicitor’s office supported the doctor’s description. . .
Cited – In re Good, deceased; Carapeto v Good and Others ChD 19-Apr-2002
The normal rules as to costs contained in the CPR should also be followed in probate actions save only that the judge should also take account of the guidance in the Spiers case, where an alternative costs order might be made if the testator or . .
Cited – Ark and Others v Kaur and Others ChD 17-Sep-2010
The proponents sought to have the will (executed in India) admitted to probate. The daughters denied that he had executed it. The court heard detailed explanations of the procedures said to have been undertaken for the making and execution of the . .
Cited – Gill v Woodall and Others ChD 5-Oct-2009
The claimant challenged her late mother’s will which had left the entire estate to a charity. She asserted lack of knowledge and approval and coercion, and also an estoppel. The will included a note explaining that no gift had been made because she . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 27 October 2021; Ref: scu.188023

Goodchild v Branbury and others: CA 15 Dec 2006

Application was made to set aside transfers of land for undue influence, and that the second transfere was aware of the deficiency in the first.
Held: The appeal suceeded, and the transfers were set aside. Chadwick LJ said: ‘A gift which is made without informed consideration by a person vulnerable to influence, and which he could not have been expected to make if he had been acting in accordance with the ordinary motives which lead men’s actions, needs to be justified on the basis that the donor knew and understood what he was doing. In this case, that requirement was not met.’
Chadwick LJ
[2006] EWCA Civ 1868
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Royal Bank of Scotland v Etridge (No 2); Barclays Bank plc v Harris; Midland Bank plc v Wallace, etc HL 11-Oct-2001
Wives had charged the family homes to secure their husband’s business borrowings, and now resisted possession orders, claiming undue influence.
Held: Undue influence is an equitable protection created to undo the effect of excess influence of . .
Cited – Inche Noriah v Shaik Allie Bin Omar PC 1928
Undue influence was alleged against a nephew over his elderly aunt. One solicitor had drafted the deed of gift, and another had witnessed it. The solicitor had established that she understood it and entered into it freely, but had not asked enough . .
Cited – Jennings and Another v Cairns CA 18-Nov-2003
Nieces had fallen out over their aunt’s estate. One niece had been closer than the others, and despite not properly understanding what she was doing the deceased had made lifetime gifts to the niece who was now executor. She appealed a finding of . .
Cited – Hammond v Osborn and Another CA 27-Jun-2002
Where there was any relationship of trust and confidence between parties, and a substantial gift was made by the one in whom that trust was placed, there would be a presumption of undue influence. Undue influence is a matter of public policy. In a . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 22 October 2021; Ref: scu.249100

Inche Noriah v Shaik Allie Bin Omar: PC 1928

Undue influence was alleged against a nephew over his elderly aunt. One solicitor had drafted the deed of gift, and another had witnessed it. The solicitor had established that she understood it and entered into it freely, but had not asked enough to establish that it was almost her entire estate, and had not advised her that a better way to achieve the result would be by will.
Held: The gift failed for undue influence. Usually a presumption of undue influence may be rebutted by showing that the transaction was entered into ‘after the nature and effect of the transaction had been fully explained to the donor by some independent qualified person.’ and: ‘It is necessary for the donee to prove that the gift was the result of a free exercise of independent will.’
However (Lord Hailsham LC): ‘their Lordships are not prepared to accept the view that independent legal advice is the only way in which the presumption can be rebutted.’ and ‘It is necessary for the donee to prove that the gift was a result of the free exercise of independent will. The most obvious way to prove this is by establishing that the gift was made after the nature and effect of the transaction had been fully explained to the donor by some independent and qualified person so completely to satisfy the court that the donor was acting independently of any influence from the donee and with the full appreciation of what he was doing; and in cases where there can there are no other circumstances this may be the only means by which the donee can rebut the presumption.’
Lord Hailsham LC
[1929] AC 127, [1928] All ER 189
Cited by:
Cited – Niersmans v Pesticcio CA 1-Apr-2004
A house have been given by a man with learning difficulties to her sister. The case appealed an order that undue influence had applied.
Held: The gift failed despite the attempt at independent legal advice. The court reviewed the law of undue . .
Cited – Royal Bank of Scotland v Etridge (No 2); Barclays Bank plc v Harris; Midland Bank plc v Wallace, etc HL 11-Oct-2001
Wives had charged the family homes to secure their husband’s business borrowings, and now resisted possession orders, claiming undue influence.
Held: Undue influence is an equitable protection created to undo the effect of excess influence of . .
Cited – Hammond v Osborn and Another CA 27-Jun-2002
Where there was any relationship of trust and confidence between parties, and a substantial gift was made by the one in whom that trust was placed, there would be a presumption of undue influence. Undue influence is a matter of public policy. In a . .
Cited – Randall v Randall ChD 30-Jul-2004
The executor sought to set aside gifts made by the deceased, an elderly aunt before her death to his brother, alleging undue influence.
Held: The recipient had acted falsely in failing to declare overpayments of benefits. The deceased had been . .
Cited – Goodchild v Branbury and others CA 15-Dec-2006
Application was made to set aside transfers of land for undue influence, and that the second transfere was aware of the deficiency in the first.
Held: The appeal suceeded, and the transfers were set aside. Chadwick LJ said: ‘A gift which is . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 22 October 2021; Ref: scu.195486

Huguenin v Baseley: 1807

When undue influence is alleged, the law will investigate the way the intention to enter into the transaction was secured. Lord Eldon LC said: ‘Take it that she (the plaintiff) intended to give it to him (the defendant): it is by no means out of the reach of the principle. The question is, not, whether she knew, what she was doing, had done, or proposed to do, but how the intention was produced.’
Lord Eldon LC
[1807] EngR 397, (1807) 14 Ves Jun 273, (1807) 33 ER 526
Commonlii
Cited by:
Cited – Hammond v Osborn and Another CA 27-Jun-2002
Where there was any relationship of trust and confidence between parties, and a substantial gift was made by the one in whom that trust was placed, there would be a presumption of undue influence. Undue influence is a matter of public policy. In a . .
Cited – Royal Bank of Scotland v Etridge (No 2); Barclays Bank plc v Harris; Midland Bank plc v Wallace, etc HL 11-Oct-2001
Wives had charged the family homes to secure their husband’s business borrowings, and now resisted possession orders, claiming undue influence.
Held: Undue influence is an equitable protection created to undo the effect of excess influence of . .
Cited – Allcard v Skinner CA 1887
The donor had parted with almost all her property. She now sought to have the transaction set aside for undue influence.
Held: Where a wife has entered into a gratuitous transaction with her husband, the burden was on the husband as donee to . .
Cited – Daniel v Drew CA 6-May-2005
The Aunt had succeeded in her claim that her retirement from a family trust of a farm had been procured by the undue influence of her nephew. The nephew now appealed. She had assigned her interest to her son, who then fell into disagreement about . .
See Also – Huguenin v Baseley 20-Jul-1808
. .
Cited – Hewett v First Plus Financial Group Plc CA 24-Mar-2010
The appellant appealed against a mortgage possession order, saying that she had been misled into signing the charge by a non-disclosure by her husband of an extra-marital affair he was conducting. The bank had not met the standards set in Etridge, . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 22 October 2021; Ref: scu.196005

Niersmans v Pesticcio: CA 1 Apr 2004

A house have been given by a man with learning difficulties to her sister. The case appealed an order that undue influence had applied.
Held: The gift failed despite the attempt at independent legal advice. The court reviewed the law of undue influence. There were continuing misconceptions about the nature of undue influence ‘Although undue influence is sometimes described as an ‘equitable wrong’ or even as a species of equitable fraud, the basis of the court’s intervention is not the commission of a dishonest or wrongful act by the defendant, but that, as a matter of public policy, the presumed influence arising from the relationship of trust and confidence should not operate to the disadvantage of the victim, if the transaction is not satisfactorily explained by ordinary motives.’ The employment of a solicitor may not always guarantee that the transaction is free of undue influence: ‘It is necessary for the court to be satisfied that the advice and explanation by, for example, a solicitor, was relevant and effective to free the donor from the impairment of the influence on his free will and to give him the necessary independence of judgment and freedom to make choices with a full appreciation of what he was doing. ‘
Lord Justice Mummery Lord Justice Pill Lord Justice Jacob
[2004] EWCA Civ 372
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Allcard v Skinner CA 1887
The donor had parted with almost all her property. She now sought to have the transaction set aside for undue influence.
Held: Where a wife has entered into a gratuitous transaction with her husband, the burden was on the husband as donee to . .
Cited – Hammond v Osborn and Another CA 27-Jun-2002
Where there was any relationship of trust and confidence between parties, and a substantial gift was made by the one in whom that trust was placed, there would be a presumption of undue influence. Undue influence is a matter of public policy. In a . .
Cited – Barclays Bank Plc v O’Brien and Another HL 21-Oct-1993
The wife joined in a charge on the family home to secure her husband’s business borrowings. The husband was found to have misrepresented to her the effect of the deed, and the bank had been aware that she might be reluctant to sign the deed.
Cited – Royal Bank of Scotland v Etridge (No 2); Barclays Bank plc v Harris; Midland Bank plc v Wallace, etc HL 11-Oct-2001
Wives had charged the family homes to secure their husband’s business borrowings, and now resisted possession orders, claiming undue influence.
Held: Undue influence is an equitable protection created to undo the effect of excess influence of . .
Cited – Inche Noriah v Shaik Allie Bin Omar PC 1928
Undue influence was alleged against a nephew over his elderly aunt. One solicitor had drafted the deed of gift, and another had witnessed it. The solicitor had established that she understood it and entered into it freely, but had not asked enough . .

Cited by:
Cited – Randall v Randall ChD 30-Jul-2004
The executor sought to set aside gifts made by the deceased, an elderly aunt before her death to his brother, alleging undue influence.
Held: The recipient had acted falsely in failing to declare overpayments of benefits. The deceased had been . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 22 October 2021; Ref: scu.195025

Zamet v Hyman: CA 1961

In considering a claim of undue influence the court referred to relationships where one party owed the other an obligation of candour and protection. A presumption of undue influence arose only where it is proved that the gift was made by the donor ‘only after full, free and informed thought about it.’
Lord Evershed MR
[1961] 1 WLR 1442
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Royal Bank of Scotland v Etridge (No 2); Barclays Bank plc v Harris; Midland Bank plc v Wallace, etc HL 11-Oct-2001
Wives had charged the family homes to secure their husband’s business borrowings, and now resisted possession orders, claiming undue influence.
Held: Undue influence is an equitable protection created to undo the effect of excess influence of . .
Cited – Randall v Randall ChD 30-Jul-2004
The executor sought to set aside gifts made by the deceased, an elderly aunt before her death to his brother, alleging undue influence.
Held: The recipient had acted falsely in failing to declare overpayments of benefits. The deceased had been . .
Cited – Hammond v Osborn and Another CA 27-Jun-2002
Where there was any relationship of trust and confidence between parties, and a substantial gift was made by the one in whom that trust was placed, there would be a presumption of undue influence. Undue influence is a matter of public policy. In a . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 22 October 2021; Ref: scu.224815

Hammond v Osborn and Another: CA 27 Jun 2002

Where there was any relationship of trust and confidence between parties, and a substantial gift was made by the one in whom that trust was placed, there would be a presumption of undue influence. Undue influence is a matter of public policy. In a case such as this where the gift created a substantial tax liability, it was incumbent upon the donee to provide evidence that the gift had only been made after full, free and informed thought, and in the absence of such evidence the gift might be set aside. A finding that the gift was spontaneous, and not made in response to pressure and in a full and independent exercise of the donor’s was not enough to rebut the presumption. The presumption is rebutted by proof that the gift was ‘the spontaneous act of the donor acting under circumstances which enabled him to exercise an independent will and which justifies the court in holding that the gift was the result of a free exercise of the donor’s will’ (Cotton LJ) The court emphasised the need for proper independent legal advice: ‘Independent advice is thus usually the crucial evidence going to the rebuttal of the presumption.’
Sir Martin Nourse, Lord Justice Ward and Lord Justice Keene
Times 18-Jul-2002, Gazette 05-Sep-2002, [2002] EWCA Civ 885, [2002] WTLR 1125
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Royal Bank of Scotland v Etridge (No 2); Barclays Bank plc v Harris; Midland Bank plc v Wallace, etc HL 11-Oct-2001
Wives had charged the family homes to secure their husband’s business borrowings, and now resisted possession orders, claiming undue influence.
Held: Undue influence is an equitable protection created to undo the effect of excess influence of . .
Cited – Allcard v Skinner CA 1887
The donor had parted with almost all her property. She now sought to have the transaction set aside for undue influence.
Held: Where a wife has entered into a gratuitous transaction with her husband, the burden was on the husband as donee to . .
Cited – Huguenin v Baseley 1807
When undue influence is alleged, the law will investigate the way the intention to enter into the transaction was secured. Lord Eldon LC said: ‘Take it that she (the plaintiff) intended to give it to him (the defendant): it is by no means out of the . .
Cited – Inche Noriah v Shaik Allie Bin Omar PC 1928
Undue influence was alleged against a nephew over his elderly aunt. One solicitor had drafted the deed of gift, and another had witnessed it. The solicitor had established that she understood it and entered into it freely, but had not asked enough . .
Cited – Zamet v Hyman CA 1961
In considering a claim of undue influence the court referred to relationships where one party owed the other an obligation of candour and protection. A presumption of undue influence arose only where it is proved that the gift was made by the donor . .

Cited by:
Cited – Niersmans v Pesticcio CA 1-Apr-2004
A house have been given by a man with learning difficulties to her sister. The case appealed an order that undue influence had applied.
Held: The gift failed despite the attempt at independent legal advice. The court reviewed the law of undue . .
Cited – Randall v Randall ChD 30-Jul-2004
The executor sought to set aside gifts made by the deceased, an elderly aunt before her death to his brother, alleging undue influence.
Held: The recipient had acted falsely in failing to declare overpayments of benefits. The deceased had been . .
Cited – Goodchild v Branbury and others CA 15-Dec-2006
Application was made to set aside transfers of land for undue influence, and that the second transfere was aware of the deficiency in the first.
Held: The appeal suceeded, and the transfers were set aside. Chadwick LJ said: ‘A gift which is . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 22 October 2021; Ref: scu.174114

Woolwich Plc v Gomm, Fairbairn: CA 21 Sep 1999

A borrower took out a loan under undue influence. The test of whether the lender was fixed with notice of this was an objective one. The lender was fixed with the knowledge of its agent solicitor, but whether it was so fixed was not dependent upon the terms of the particular appointment of that solicitor agent.
Gazette 08-Sep-1999, Times 21-Sep-1999, [1999] EWCA Civ 1989
Law of Property Act 1925 199
England and Wales

Updated: 09 August 2021; Ref: scu.90603

Aldridge and Hunt v Turner and Turner: 2004

The executors sought a declaration that the defendants, the son and his wife, owed money to the estate. They had cared for the deceased. The son was also the residuary benficiary. Whilst the father had been in hospital, the son had made 62 withdrawals from his bank account. Some were explained but the disproportionate total placed the burden rebutting a presumption of undue influence on him.
Held: Although some of the payments appeared legitimate there remained a greater sum taken which had to be repaid.
[2004] EWHC 2768
England and Wales

Updated: 04 July 2021; Ref: scu.234722

Honeyman’s Executors v Sharp; scs 14 Mar 1978

References: 1978 SC 223, [1978] ScotCS CSOH_4, 1979 SLT 177
Links: Bailii
Coram: Lord Maxwell
The action concludes for declarator that a purported gift by the deceased to the defender of four valuable paintings by the French artist Boudin falls to be reduced and for certain consequential relief. Though the word ‘undue’ is not used in the pursuers’ pleas-in-law, the action is in substance laid on the principle usually described as ‘undue influence.’