Business & Property Barrister Dr Mike Wilkinson, instructed by Kerry Davies of Adcocks Solicitors acted for an estate recovering a family home and the principal asset of an estate from an adult son who claimed his parents had promised to give it to him when he was a young man.
The adult son alleged that all of his eight siblings knew about that and it was inequitable to go back on that promise after years of reliance to his detriment upon it. Following a trial over five days, Her Honour Judge Ingram dismissed the counterclaim and found that there was no such promise, the defendant’s siblings had not been told about it, and there was no reliance or of sufficiently substantial detriment to found either a constructive trust or a propriety estoppel claim.
The Defendant was also ordered to pay a part of the costs – which would otherwise have been irrecoverable due to a r3.14 CPR sanction – on the indemnity basis because the Court wished to mark its displeasure at the Defendant’s unreasonable conduct in putting forward evidence without their witness statements being properly verified with appropriate statements of truth and because the Defendant had not reasonably taken up a proposal or engaged in negotiations following a reasonable offer (albeit not one whose terms were beaten at trial).
For further information about Dr Mike Wilkinson and the Business & Property Team at 18 St John Street Chambers please contact Katie Brown, Senior Clerk or Ryan Pugh, Deputy Senior Clerk