“Critically evaluate the significance of the decisions in Jones v Kernott [2010] 1 F.L.R 38 AND Stack v Dowden [2007] UKHL 17 in relation to trusts of the family home. Would you agree that the development of the criteria for establishing such a trust is subject to inconsistency in judicial reasoning?”

A major social trend of the last three decades is the decline in marriage and the rise in cohabitation. Over these decades the number of marriages has declined significantly compared to the number of cohabiting couples, which, has become the social norm. In 1993 the UK saw a significant decline in the number of marriages which fell to its lowest level for 50 years and a fifth of unmarried men and women were seen to be cohabiting . This may be due to the fact that the  stigma surrounding  cohabiting couples in the 1990s is significantly less than it was two or three decades ago.

Statistics have proven that the average home exceeds values of over 150,000 . However, regardless to this it is common for small consideration to be given to the arrangements for its ownership. Successive governments have displayed little if not any political will to legislate in this area, despite the…(short extract)