BRITISH PROPERTY LAW

British Property Law

British Property Law

Introduction

This paper is based on a case study that involves five stakeholders, namely: Julie and Zac, a couple, Aunt Mildred, Anita, Rajinder, and Imran. As the scenario persists, the couple Julie and Zac, the owners of a house have sold it to another person named Emile. This particular case is based on British Property Law (Land Law).

While the four stakeholders named above were granted special permissions through the agreements between them and Julie and Zac, to live in the house and keep their possessions, Emile, being the new sole properitor does not have to bother about what rights were being enjoyed by Mildred, Anita, Rajinder, and Imran.

Discussion

The most significant property legislation in England and Wales is the Law of Property Act 1925. You may have come across this property law act when buying, selling or even obtaining a mortgage on your property. The effect of this property law act is to facilitate the transfer of property. It contains provisions for when a conveyance should be made by deed, the types of estates in land you could obtain such as leasehold and freehold, what a covenant is and how this affects your land as well as what charge a mortgage lender has over your property.

It is a long piece of legislation which is used remarkably frequently in everyday conveyancing, and it is certainly not without complexities. When the Land Registration Act 2002 came into force it altered some of the provisions made in the Law of Property Act regarding land which has been registered at the Land Registry. Additionally, further changes are to be made in the future which will allow for electronic conveyancing.

The property law act is often evolving, and keeping up-to-date can be quite a challenge. Instructing a legal professional will help you understand the rights you have over your land and could prevent future disputes.

Land may be subject to legally enforceable and effective informal disposition under the doctrine of donationes mortis causa. This is a life time gift (gift inter vivos) which is conditional upon, and which takes effect upon, death. It must be distinguished on the one hand from a normal life time gift, under which title passes immediately to the transferee, and on the other hand from a testamentary gift which takes effect under the provision of a Will. But note that the intervention of Equity will not be required where the subject matter of the gift is a chattel which has been delivered to the donee, since the donee's title is complete on the donor's death, and no further act being necessary. In the case of land, on the other hand, the donee's title is not complete on the donor's death as the legal title vests in the donor's personal representatives.

The donee can seek the assistance of equity to compel the personal representatives to do whatever is necessary to perfect the donee's title. See Re Lillingston (1952) 2 All ER ...