Julie Butler FCA asks whether more farms could be lost due to lack of protection together with proprietary estoppel. The recent case of Davies & Another v Davies; [2014] EWCA Civ 568, shows the vulnerability of farms to legal claims by family members
With farms now worth much larger sums together with the historic farming situation whereby there has been a lack of legal documentation to support trading arrangements, promises and assurances between family members creates a potential background for legal claims. Historically which family members stay working on the family farm and ultimately who inherits the farm has been a cause of much conflict. The need for good legal agreements for protection against claims also ties into the need for tax protection.
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