| Errington v Wood | |
|---|---|
| Court | Court of Appeal |
| Full case name | Also called Errington v Errington |
| Citation(s) | [1951] EWCA Civ 2, [1952] 1 KB 290 |
| Keywords | |
| Acceptance, unilateral offer | |
Errington v Wood [1951] EWCA Civ 2 is an English contract law case concerning agreement.
Contents |
A Dad got a mortgage and bought a house for his son and daughter in law. He said if she paid the mortgage, the house would be theirs. They started to do so, and then split. The dad died. He left the house to his widow. She brought an action to eject the daughter in law.
Denning LJ held that the father’s unilateral offer could not be revoked after they had started to pay. He said there was no need to imply an obligation to complete the payments. The limit is where the daughter stops paying, and the father’s estate has to pick up the bill. Then she would lose her right to stay. The couple were on a license, short of a tenancy but a contractual, or at least equitable right to remain, which would grow into good equitable title as soon as the mortgage was paid.
| “ | It is clear law that the court is not to imply a term unless it is necessary; and I do not see that it is necessary here...
I should have thought it clear that, if they did fail to pay the instalments, the father would not be bound to transfer the house to them. The father’s promise was a unilateral contract - a promise of the house in return for their act of paying the instalments... They have acted on the promise, and neither the father nor his widow, his successor in title, can eject them in disregard of it. |
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