Sale achieved following settlement of a property ownership dispute

James Parratt recently advised a private individual in respect of a dispute regarding the ownership of a property, resulting in a settlement that included a prescriptive method of achieving a sale.

The client jointly owned a property with their nephew, which had been occupied by their nephew since the purchase.

They entered into a Declaration of Trust which set out each party’s beneficial interest in the property and contained a mechanism should either party wish to dispose of their interest and/or enable one party to acquire the other party’s interest in the property.

With interest rates rising the client elected to dispose of their interest in the property and offered their nephew the opportunity to purchase their interest.

The nephew argued that the client’s interest was not calculated in accordance with the Declaration of Trust but instead calculated by various other methods.

The nephew was a litigant in person, meaning they wanted to represent themselves in court. After exchanging pre-action correspondence the nephew agreed to mediate and agreed to instruct a barrister to attend mediation on his behalf.

The mediation concluded in a settlement which included a prescriptive method of achieving a sale and confirming the process of sale be distributed in accordance with the Declaration of Trust.