''Merritt v Merritt''
EWCA Civ 6is an
970
EWCA Civ 6is an English contract law case, on the matter of Creating legal relations in English law">creating legal relations. While under the principles laid out in ''
Balfour v Balfour'', domestic agreements between spouses are rarely legally enforceable, this principle was rebutted where two spouses who formed an agreement over their matrimonial home were not on good terms.
Background
Mr Merritt and his wife jointly owned a house. Mr Merritt left to live with another woman. They made an agreement (signed) that Mr Merritt would pay Mrs Merritt a £40 monthly sum, and eventually transfer the house to her, if Mrs Merritt kept up the monthly mortgage payments. When the mortgage was paid Mr Merritt refused to transfer the house.
Judgment
The Court of Appeal held that nature of the dealings, and the fact that the Merritts were separated when they signed their contract, allowed the court to assume that their agreement was more than a domestic arrangement.
Lord Denning MR stated:
Widgery LJ and
Karminski LJ concurred.
See also
*
English contract law
English contract law is the body of law that regulates legally binding agreements in England and Wales. With its roots in the lex mercatoria and the activism of the judiciary during the Industrial Revolution, it shares a heritage with countries ...
* ''
Balfour v Balfour''
*
Creation of legal relations in English law
*
Mechanisms of the English common law
Notes
{{reflist, 2
References
*
English enforceability case law
Court of Appeal (England and Wales) cases
1970 in United Kingdom case law