''Jones v Lock'' (1865) 1 Ch App 25 is an
English trusts law
English trust law concerns the protection of assets, usually when they are held by one party for another's benefit. Trusts were a creation of the English law of property and obligations, and share a subsequent history with countries across the ...
case, concerning the formality for creating a
gift
A gift or a present is an item given to someone without the expectation of payment or anything in return. An item is not a gift if that item is already owned by the one to whom it is given. Although gift-giving might involve an expectation ...
, and the possibility that if the gift were not properly completed with the required legal form, a trust could be found. The
Court of Appeal in Chancery
The Court of Appeal in Chancery was created in 1851 to hear appeals of decisions and decrees made in the Court of Chancery, Chancery Court. The appeals in the court were heard by the Lord Chancellor alone, or as a tripartite panel (supplemented by ...
held that equity would not "perfect an imperfect gift" by creating a
trust
Trust often refers to:
* Trust (social science), confidence in or dependence on a person or quality
It may also refer to:
Business and law
* Trust law, a body of law under which one person holds property for the benefit of another
* Trust (bus ...
, if the proper formality for the gift had not been completed.
Facts
A father returned from a business trip without a gift for his son. When the family told him off, he put a £900 cheque in the baby’s hand, and said
The wife said the baby might tear it, and the father said, ‘it is his own, and he may do what he likes with it’. He locked it in the safe and died six days later. It was argued that although there was never an outright transfer, because he had not actually endorsed the cheque by signing it, there was no trust of the cheque for the baby.
Judgment
The Court of Appeal in Chancery held that there was no trust, because the father’s intention was an outright transfer. They refused to perfect an imperfect gift through a successful declaration of trust.
Lord Cranworth LC gave the judgment of the court.
See also
*
English trusts law
English trust law concerns the protection of assets, usually when they are held by one party for another's benefit. Trusts were a creation of the English law of property and obligations, and share a subsequent history with countries across the ...
Notes
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References
*
English trusts case law
Court of Chancery cases
1865 in British law
1865 in case law