Re_Shaire
Mortgage Corporation v Shaire [2001] Ch 743 [1] is a widely reported English land law case relating to the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996. Such a status specifically flowed from an instance of non est factum mortgage fraud where the mortgage lender and the defrauded co-owner wished to accelerate and delay sale respectively. The case is relevant to matrimonial law in that the respective equitable shares in the home awarded to Mrs Shaire and Mr Fox in 1987 matrimonial proceedings were never defined and it fell to the court to define these.
The parties accepted the settled law of mortgages that the mortgage could only be applied against the defrauding co-owner's share, not against the innocent co-owner who was duped and was without knowledge of the mortgage loan.
The court made broad, reasoned announcements on the end of the old law and old doctrine of "trusts for sale". The extent of co-ownership was a side issue, determined also by the case. It fixed the Mrs Shaire's share at 75% and her partner for the past three-to-four years at 25%.