Taunton TOLATA solicitors succeed at trial
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Taunton TOLATA solicitors have succeeded in a contested TOLATA claim at the London County Court.
TOLATA, which stands for Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act, is a piece of legislation that solicitors use where their client wishes to claim ownership of property which is not officially registered in their name.
In this case our client had been in a long-term relationship with his ex-partner for many years. They found a house together, but because the couple had difficulty in obtaining a mortgage it was purchased in the name of his partner’s parents. This was on the basis that when the time came to sell, the net proceeds would be divided equally.
However, when their relationship did eventually come to an end a dispute arose because our client’s partner refused to honour their agreement. Although their was written evidence of the arrangement, his ex partner argued that she had only signed the documents under duress.
He therefore approached Taunton TOLATA solicitor Hayley Bundey for guidance on what he should do and Hayley advised him to make a TOLATA claim.
We are experienced in pursuing legal actions under the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act, and because we were confident in our ability to achieve a positive result we said that we would be happy to deal with the TOLATA claim on a No Win, No Fee basis.
We tried to reach an out of court settlement with the ex-partner, but she wasn’t interested in negotiating or even attending a mediation. Hayley therefore prepared the case for court.
When the case finally came to trial the judge concluded that our client’s ex-partner had lied on oath about being pressured into signing the documents and other aspects of her evidence. The judge also found that her father had not been telling the truth when he denied that our client had been promised a share of the property.
The trial judge therefore made an order that the property be sold immediately, with 50% of the net proceeds being paid to our client. The court also said that his ex-partner should pay his legal costs and that Slee Blackwell Solicitors should deal with the sale of the property.