''Merritt v Merritt''
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is 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
''Balfour v Balfour'' 9192 KB 571 is a leading English contract law case. It held that there is a rebuttable presumption against an intention to create a legally enforceable agreement when the agreement is domestic in nature.
Facts
Mr. 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.
Facts
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
Alfred Thompson "Tom" Denning, Baron Denning (23 January 1899 – 5 March 1999) was an English lawyer and judge. He was called to the bar of England and Wales in 1923 and became a King's Counsel in 1938. Denning became a judge in 1944 when ...
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
''Balfour v Balfour'' 9192 KB 571 is a leading English contract law case. It held that there is a rebuttable presumption against an intention to create a legally enforceable agreement when the agreement is domestic in nature.
Facts
Mr. Balfour ...
''
* Creation of legal relations in English law
Intention to create legal relations, otherwise an "intention to be legally bound", is a doctrine used in contract law, particularly English contract law and related common law jurisdictions.
The doctrine establishes whether a court should presume ...
* Mechanisms of the English common law
In the English system of common law, judges have devised a number of mechanisms to allow them to cope with precedent decisions.
Issues of the common law
According to Montesquieu, it is Parliament that has the rightful power to legislate, not the ...
Notes
{{reflist, 2
References
*
English enforceability case law
Court of Appeal (England and Wales) cases
1970 in case law
1970 in British law