Proprietary estoppel seems to be the gift that keeps on giving for agricultural professionals. With yet another case reported this month (Williams v Williams), following hot on the heels of Morton v Morton in January, what can we, as our clients’ trusted advisors, do to reduce the risk of such claims?
As we will all be aware, farming and the build-up of the farming business, has often taken place over several generations and it is generally expected that the core of the business will remain intact for generations to come.
Unfortunately, farming families are often the perfect breeding ground for proprietary estoppel claims, which can incur substantial costs for cash-poor families and result in the division of the farming business.
In summary, for a claim based on proprietary estoppel to be successful a claimant has to establish three facts: i) a promise was made (e.g. the claimant will become entitled to an interest in the farm); ii) the claimant relied on that promise and iii) the claimant suffered a detriment in doing so (e.g. financial or social detriment). The Court will then consider whether it would be unconscionable to allow the person who made the promise to break it and has a wide discretion on what to order to remedy the broken promise.
What the cases in recent years have taught us are that we should be recommending to our clients that they make sure:
At Howes Percival, we work as a team of agricultural property, trusts, tax and wills & probate specialists that enables us to advise cohesively on the issues that farming families face. If our advice is sought too late, our contentious probate team can help with any proprietary estoppel claim.
For more information, please contact Katharine Danks at [javascript protected email address] or on 01603 284257.
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