The birth of the acquisition constructive trust

William East

Practitioners advising on disputes concerning the beneficial ownership of land will frequently encounter a familiar difficulty. There may be situations where clients will assert that there was a clear family agreement that they would have an interest in one or more properties. However, they are not on the legal title, there is no trust deed or will in their favour, and critically, at least some of them cannot demonstrate any detrimental reliance on the agreement that was made. How, in these situations, can a trust be established?