A circuit judge’s court order was wrong in declaring that a property was held by a nephew and uncle in equal shares as tenants in common, as it was unconscionable for the nephew to resile from an imperfect gift of his property interest to his uncle.
On 19 November 1997, the respondent and appellant (nephew and uncle) jointly purchased the legal title to a residential property. The legal title was held in the names of the respondent and the appellant as joint tenants. There was no mortgage. The respondent never occupied the property, which was the appellant’s family home.
A dispute arose between the respondent and appellant about the ownership of the property.
By court order, a district judge declared that, as the respondent had