LEGAL PRINCIPLE: EQUITY AND TRUSTS — Presumption of Advancement — When Property Purchased in Child’s Name
PRINCIPLE STATEMENT
Where property is conveyed in the name of someone other than the purchaser, a resulting trust arises. This does not arise where the relationship raises a presumption that a gift was intended (presumption of advancement). This applies where the purchaser is husband, father, or in loco parentis to the person to whom property is conveyed.
RATIO DECIDENDI (SOURCE)
Per Edozie, JSC, in Ughutevbe v. Shonowo (2004) NLC-1601997(SC) at pp. 28–29; Paras E–A.
"Where on a purchase, property is conveyed in the name of someone other than the purchaser, the presumption is that the trust of the legal estate results to the man who advances the purchase money. […] But as this doctrine of resulting trusts is based upon the unexpressed but presumed intention of the true purchaser, it will not arise where the relation existing between the true and the nominal purchaser is such as to raise a presumption that a gift was intended. This presumption of advancement, as it is called, applies to all cases in which the person providing the purchase money is under an equitable obligation to support, or make provision for, the person to whom the property is conveyed, that is where the former is the husband or father of, or stands in loco parentis to, the latter."
EXPLANATION / SCOPE
Resulting trust applies when property is purchased in another’s name. Presumption of advancement displaces resulting trust for husband, father, or in loco parentis. The principle applies to equity and trusts. The rule recognizes familial obligations as indicating gift intent. The purchaser’s relationship to the nominal owner determines which presumption applies. The presumption of advancement reflects intention to make provision.
