Rowena Meager examines inheritance and proprietary estoppel
The recent decision of the House of Lords in Thorner v Majors & Others [2009] UKHL 18 (Thorner) provides an opportunity for the doctrine of proprietary estoppel to be reviewed, once again, at the highest level. This decision should provide some comfort to those who had determined that the House of Lords' decision in Cobbe v Yeoman's Row Management Ltd [2008] UKHL 55, [2008] 4 All ER 713, [2008] 1 WLR 1752 signified the near death of proprietary estoppel, a view which Lord Walker in Thorner referred to as being “rather apocalyptic”.
Facts of the case
David Thorner undertook substantial work without pay on Steart Farm in Somerset for nearly 30 years. The farm belonged to David's father's cousin, Peter Thorner. Peter died intestate in 2005 leaving neither wife nor children. While David had, in the early years, harboured a hope that he might inherit Steart Farm, that hope turned into an expectation in 1990, an expectation which endured until Peter's death. The expectation was initially founded upon a remark made by Peter at that time, together
