Declarations of Trust in the Family Home

This article discusses the Court of Appeal judgment in Pankhania v Chandegra on whether an express declaration of trust setting out the beneficial interests in a house excluded the possibility of interests based on contributions or improvements under a constructive trust. The artile reviews other cases on constructive trusts, judicial advice to conveyancers that co-owners should make express declarations of trust,and whether it is better for co-owners' interests to be based on equity at the end of the relationship, or for certainty about ownership to exist from the outset