Law of property Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Law of property - Essay Example For instance, Section 1 of the law identifies legal estates and equitable interests, while section 37 of the law identifies the rights of a husband and wife in regard to acquisition of properties (Clarke and Kohler, 2005). This paper focuses on analyzing the right of ownership of a real property, between cohabiting couples. On this basis, it is important to distinguish between real property and personal property. The following are the differences that exists between real and personal properties (Ferguson, Buck and Wright, 2004) , Real estate properties can be owned in a limited capacity, while there is no way an individual can own a personal property in a limited capacity. Upon the death of the owner of real property, the next owner is the heir of the property. In regard to personal property, the statute of distribution guards the manner in which property passes on to another individual. In entering a contract that involves real property, it must be in writing. This is because these contracts are governed by section 29 of the Statute of Frauds. Contracts involving personal property do not need to be in writing. Parties to the contract will only write the contractual agreement if the case falls under section 17 of the Statute of Frauds. Some provisions of the Mortmain act govern the transfer of real property, for purposes of protecting immediate family members from disinheritance. However, the Mortmain act does not regulate any activities of personal property, only if Chattels are involved. It is not a requirement to register mortgages under real property; however, mortgages under personal property must be registered. Basing on this background, there is extensive argument in the United Kingdom on the relevance of various property laws in the country that protects cohabiting couples. For instance on January 23RD, Lord Justice Toulson allowed Pamela Curran to appeal a decision by a county court in 2010 of stripping her rights of sharing the properties she accumula ted with Brian Collins. According to the judge, the property laws that regulate the sharing of properties by cohabiting couples in the United Kingdom were unfair to cohabiting couples (Ward, 2013). According to this case, Miss Curran had a relationship with Brian Collins from 1970s, to 2010 when the relationship came to an end. Miss Curran worked together with Brian in his business, and they lived together in his home. However, after the relationship ended, Mr. Collins threw her out of his house, leaving her penniless. However, Lord Judge Toulson denoted that the county court just applied the law (Ward, 2013). In 2007, the Law Commission in England made a recommendation for the government to change the cohabiting laws in England, so that couples cohabiting will have the same status as married couples. According to the commission, the government should create laws that provide for financial relief to cohabiting couples when they separate. According to the commission, these laws shoul d reflect the contributions of the couples in the relationship (Halsbury, 2011). They further recommend that the couples, who should benefit from the laws, are those who have lived together for a minimum period of time, and have children together. According to their recommendations, couples might gain relief from these laws, if they have a written agreement on how they will share their properties once they separate (Toler, 2012). In 2008, the government of UK said it had no intention of