Sylvia and Dennis Swaden had been buried in the same plot. The second child, Paul, had made it clear that he did not want Dennis to be buried in the plot, but his five siblings arranged it anyway, probably by forging Paul’s signature. Paul was the registered owner of the plot. The burial authority sought a faculty for exhumation.
Held: About a quarter of the bill for the grant of burial rights had been paid for by other family members, including Dennis who had also acted to his detriment by not insisting on his name appearing on the grant of rights. A constructive trust was therefore established, and Paul had no right to refuse his consent. A similar result could be achieved by applying the law of proprietary estoppel.
Judges:
Charles George QC
Citations:
Times 20-Apr-2005
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Ecclesiastical
Updated: 17 May 2022; Ref: scu.225896
