Re Basham [1986] 1 WLR 1498 is a landmark decision as the first modern case to recognise that proprietary estoppel could arise from an expectation of inheriting property.

Case Facts

The plaintiff had spent significant time and money caring for her stepfather over many years following her mother’s death. Instead of moving away, she and her husband continued to live near him to provide help and meals, and worked in his house and garden. The stepfather led her to believe she would inherit his house, but he died intestate, so under the rules of intestacy the house was set to pass to his own family rather than the plaintiff.

Legal Issue

Whether the stepfather’s informal assurances, coupled with the plaintiff’s caring for him, were enough to establish a proprietary estoppel claim that could override the rules of inheritance.

The Decision

The court ruled in favour of the plaintiff, finding that:

  • Assurances had been clearly given by the stepfather that she would inherit.
  • The plaintiff had acted to her detriment in reliance on those assurances.
  • Consequently, an equity arose in her favour, which the court satisfied by declaring that the deceased’s personal representatives held the house on trust for her.

Key Legal Principles and Detriment

The case is significant for its analysis of what constitutes detriment beyond simple financial expenditure:

  • Personal sacrifice: she refrained from selling her own land and turned down job opportunities elsewhere that would have made caring for her stepfather impossible.
  • Financial and practical help: she instructed solicitors at her own expense to resolve a boundary dispute for him and spent money on carpeting and maintaining his house, even though he could have afforded it himself.
  • Beyond moral duty: the judge noted that the “cumulative effect” of these acts went well beyond a normal “family moral duty” or acts of “natural love and affection”.

By granting her the house, the court chose to satisfy the equity by giving full effect to the expectation encouraged by the stepfather’s representations.