Who wrote the cheque?

Day v Day CA LSG 30 March

The claimant’s mother-in-law occupied a property as a council tenant and purchased it at a discount of 60% pursuant to her right to buy, the balance of 40% being provided by the claimant’s late husband. In her will the mother-in-law had left the property to the defendant who contended that the contribution to the purchase price by the claimant’s husband was a gift and that accordingly the mother-in-law was entitled to leave the whole of the property to him. Both parties advanced alternative fallback arguments that the mother-in-law held the property on the resulting trust for herself and the claimant in the ratio of 60:40. The trial judge held that the identical fallback arguments were correct and that because neither party had sought to settle the matter on this basis, the result was effectively a draw, so he made no order for costs, save that he awarded the claimant her costs up to the close of pleadings.