A property was purchased by the defendant which the court found to have been on the basis as trustee for the plaintiff. The defendant resisted the plaintiff’s claim on the ground of, inter alia, absence of writing.
Held: This defence was rejected. Though imperfectly recorded, a constructive trust was created. The 1677 Statute cannot be used itself as an instrument of fraud.
Lindley LJ said that it is a fraud for a person to whom land is conveyed as a trustee, and who knows it was so conveyed, to deny the trust and claim the land as her own, and: ‘It is further established by a series of cases, the propriety of which cannot now be questioned, that the Statute of Frauds does not prevent the proof of a fraud; and that it is a fraud on the part of a person to whom land is conveyed as a trustee, and who knows it was so conveyed, to deny the trust and claim the land himself. Consequently, notwithstanding the statute, it is competent for a person claiming land conveyed to another to prove by parol evidence that it was so conveyed upon trust for the claimant, and that the grantee, knowing the facts, is denying the trust and relying upon the form of conveyance and the statute, in order to keep the land himself.’
Lindley LJ
[1897] 1 Ch 196, [1896] UKLawRpCh 180, 13 TLR 118, 75 LT 502
Statute of Frauds 1677
England and Wales
Citing:
See Also – Rochefoucald v Boustead 1896
Two parties were engaged in a joint venture. The first invited the second to consult his solicitor but, in proceedings against both parties, waived any privilege in respect of what took place.
Held: The second party remained entitled to insist . .
Cited by:
Cited – Paragon Finance Plc (Formerly Known As National Home Loans Corporation Plc v D B Thakerar and Co (a Firm); Ranga and Co (a Firm) and Sterling Financial Services Limited CA 21-Jul-1998
Where an action had been begun on basis of allegations of negligence and breach of trust, new allegations of fraud where quite separate new causes of claim, and went beyond amendments and were disallowed outside the relevant limitation period. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Trusts
Updated: 18 December 2021; Ref: scu.223734
