''Re Cole'' ( 9641 Ch 175, CA) also known as ''ex p. Trustee v Cole'' is a case in

English property law English property law refers to the law of acquisition, sharing and protection of valuable assets in England and Wales. While part of the United Kingdom, many elements of Scots property law are different. In England, property law encompasses fou ...

dealing with the transfer of

gifts 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 ...

Facts

Mr Cole bought, furnished and equipped a large house in London as the family home, costing him £20,000 overall. Later that year, his wife came to London to move into their new home. He said to her 'look, it's all yours'. Subsequently, Mr Cole went

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

and the contents of the home were claimed. However, Mrs Cole claimed that they had been gifted to her.

Judgment

The case establishes that a gift of chattels cannot be perfected by showing them to a donee and stating words of gift. In order to establish a gift there are three requirements. Namely, perfecting a gift requires 1) Intention 2) Delivery and 3) Acceptance. In this case Mr Cole had, by words, shown intention to make a gift to Mrs Cole. He had not however, delivered anything to her, and she had not accepted anything. Therefore, in this case it was held that physical delivery (and some form of acceptance) is required by law to perfect a gift.

Facts

Judgment

Further reading