The presumption in law that cohabiting partners buying property in joint names have equal interests in it unless they declare otherwise can be overcome by evidence that their intentions were different, the House of Lords has ruled.
In Stack v Dowden, a couple had lived together for almost 30 years and had four children. The mortgage interest and joint endowment policy premiums of their home were paid by Barry Stack. The mortgage loan was repaid by a series of lump sum capital payments, beginning in 1994, to which Stack contributed £27,000 and Dehra Dowden £38,435. The couple otherwise kept their finances separate.
The Law Lords ruled that Dowden was entitled to 65% of the value of the house. Baroness Hale said that to show that the beneficial ownership of the house was not shared equally, Dowden needed to first show that the common intention when buying the property in joint names was that it should not be shared as beneficial joint tenants.
“In some, perhaps many, cases of real domestic partnership, there
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