Difference between revisions of "Property and Debt in Family Law Matters"

In each case, the person who transfers the money or asset to the other party is said to retain an interest, called a ''beneficial interest'', in the property even though the property is held by the other party in his or her name alone. In court proceeding based on a resulting trust, the person making the claim, the ''Claimant'', is asking for compensation for his or her beneficial interest in the property owned by the ''Respondent'', the person against whom the claim is brought.  

A constructive trust is called ''constructive'' because the Claimant is asking the court to create or impose a trust on the Respondent where there wasn't one before. According to the Supreme Court of Canada's decision in the 1980 case of ''Pettkus v. Becker'', the most important case on constructive trusts, the court will impose a trust on a Respondent where the Claimant has been able to show that the Respondent has been ''unjustly enriched'' as a result of the Claimant's efforts. Unjust enrichment is shown by proving that: