Husband and Wife – Foreign – Heritable Estate of Wife in England – Sale of Wife’s Estate with her Consent – Husband’s Right to Proceeds – Jus Mariti – Donatio inter virum et uxorem – Surrogatum – Act for the Abolition of Fines and Recoveries (3 and 4 Will. IV. c. 74).
The wife of a domiciled Scotsman, with concurrence of her husband, sold a heritable estate belonging to her in England and acknowledged the conveyance before two commissioners appointed under the Act for the Abolition of Fines and Recoveries (3 and 4 Will. IV. c. 74), and ‘declared that she did intend to give up her interest in the said estate without any provision made for her in lieu thereof.’ Her husband received the price, and applied it to his own purposes. The spouses subsequently separated by mutual consent, and the wife executed a deed of revocation of all her donations and provisions in favour of her husband. She then sued him for declarator that the amount in his hands was a surrogatum for her heritage and not subject to the jus mariti.
Held ( rev. the decision of the First Division) that the price of the wife’s interest in the estate did not belong to her as a surrogatum for her heritable estate.
Judges:
Lords Herschell, Watson, and Morris
Citations:
[1891] UKHL 953, 28 SLR 953
Links:
Jurisdiction:
Scotland
Family
Updated: 30 June 2022; Ref: scu.636784