A Detrimental Decision on Ownership of the Family Home?

Abstract

In Hudson v Hathway [2022] EWHC 631 (QB), Kerr J potentially made it easier for a cohabiting partner to claim a share greater than 50% in a jointly owned home. He held that in joint names cases where there is no express declaration of trust but there is (at least) an express agreement about beneficial ownership such a partner need not prove that she acted to her detriment in reliance on a common intention to alter the initial presumption of joint beneficial ownership recognised by Stack v Dowden [2007] UKHL 17 and Jones v Kernott [2011] UKSC 53. The decision, however, will excite considerable doctrinal controversy.