Property law - Land Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Property law - Land - Essay Example The next year, Mr. Kernott and Ms. Jones acquired a loan to extend their house, with Mr. Kernott undertaking most of the construction work. The couple separated in 1993 and Mr. Kernott left their home in Badger Hall Avenue. Mr. Kernott stopped contributing to the household bills and the mortgage. Further, he made little contribution towards maintaining the two children that the couple had. Three years later, Mr. Kernott and Ms. Jones decided to redeem their life insurance policy, dividing the proceeds between themselves. Mr. Kernott bought a house on 114 Stanley Road in Essex with his share of the proceeds. However, in 2006, he sought payment for the value of his share of the house on Badger Hall Avenue. Ms. Jones declined, requesting that the Appointment of Trustees and Trusts of Land Act 1996 grant her total ownership of the property2. The court decided, after considering precedence in the cases of Dowden v Stack and Hiscock v Oxley that both parties share the total value of the property in different proportions, awarding 10% of the property to Mr. Kernott and 90% awarded to Ms. Jones. According to this judgment, Mr. Kernott would recieive  £24355 and Ms. Jones would receive  £219,190 in the event that they sold the property then Mr. Kernott appealed this decision at the High Court4. Mr. Kernott argued at the High Court that the judge wrongly imputed or inferred an intention that after the separation of the couple, both parties’ beneficial interests were supposed to change. Further, he claimed that the court was unfair in its quantification of the beneficial interests owned by both parties. By a simple majority, Mr. Kernott’s appeal went through. The court declared that both parties were joint owners of the property, and were tenants with equal shares5. Judges Wall P., Rimer L.J. and Jacob L.J. presided over the appeal6. Wall and Rimer argued that there was no way to indicate a change in the intentions of both parties