A constructive trust can arise where someone (person A) has contributed to or entirely met the cost of acquiring property which is legally owned by person B.  If person B tries to take property for himself or gift it to someone else, person A can stop him from doing so by asking the court to construct a trust in his favour – in other words, to impose a trust such that person B does not really own that property but rather holds legal title for the benefit of person A (or person A and person B in particular shares).
These cases most commonly arise in connection with ownership of the family home where the home is in the legal name of only one party but where both parties have financially contributed to that home either by mortgage payments or perhaps funding renovations over a period of time.    These cases often go hand in hand with proprietary estoppel as they often also involve a ‘common intention’ – a promise between the parties that whilst the property is legally owned by one, it really benefits them both (referred to as a common intention constructive trust) and very commonly involve a detriment on behalf of the person who does not hold legal title.
These cases are legally complex and frequently involve evidence over a very long period of time.  For advice on bringing or defending an alleged claim under proprietary estoppel and/ or constructive trust contact our specialist team.