Minter & 2 Ors v Minter [2000] NSWSC 100

New South Wales Supreme Court

CITATION : Minter & 2 Ors v Minter [2000] NSWSC 100 revised - 2/03/2000 CURRENT JURISDICTION: Equity FILE NUMBER(S) : SC 1222/95 HEARING DATE(S) : 06/05/98, 29/05/98, 13/08/98, 18/08/98, 19/03/99, 09/07/99, 03/08/99, 04/08/99, 05/08/99, 06/08/99, 10/08/99, 21/09/99 JUDGMENT DATE : 1 March 2000

Beryl May Minter (First Plaintiff/Cross-Defendant) PARTIES : Phillip Joseph Minter (Second Plaintiff/Cross-Defendant) Colin James Minter (Third Defendant/Cross-Defendant) Graham Minter (Defendant/Cross-Claimant) JUDGMENT OF : Santow J

COUNSEL : W G Hodgekiss/W S Johnson (Plaintiffs/Cross-Defendants) J A Darvall (Defendant/Cross-Claimant) SOLICITORS : Vile & Vile (Plaintiffs/Cross-Defendants) Kingston Swift (Defendant/Cross-Claimant CATCHWORDS : EQUITY — Partnership — Real Property — Family dispute in relation to jointly owned old system property including horse stud — Joint tenancy versus tenancy in common where no unity of interest — Joint tenancy at law in equal shares between mother and three sons but tenancy in common in equity as to three-sixths for mother and one-sixth each for three sons — Partnership or activities separately carried out or joint enterprise falling short of partnership — On balance partnership notwithstanding informal accounting and no immediate profit — Remedy of account available even if not a partnership — This is at common law based on involuntary bailiffs in possession or as unjust enrichment or under fiduciary or quasi fiduciary principles or on basis of break up of joint endeavour without attributable blame save in the exclusion of cross-claimant. LEGISLATION CITED : Conveyancing Act 1919 (NSW); s26 Partnership Act 1892 (NSW); s1, s2 Canny Gabriel Castle Jackson Advertising Pty Ltd v Volume Sales (Finance) Pty Ltd (1974) 131 CLR 321 DCT v Tuza (1995) 31 ATR 211 and on appeal; (1997) 35 ATR 32 Ferguson v FCT (1979) 9 ATR 873 Forgeard v Shanahan (1994) 35 NSWLR 206 French v Styring (1857) 2 C B (Ns) 357; 140 ER 455 Hitchins v Hitchins (1999) 47 NSWLR 35 Hope v The Council of the City of Bathurst (1980) 140 CLR 1 Jones v Dunkel Lake v Craddock (1732) 3 P Wms 158; 24 ER 1011 CASES CITED : Muschinski v Dodds (1985) 160 CLR 583 Ogier v Booth (1883) 9 VLR(E) 160 Robinson v FCT (1986) 17 ADR 1068 Re Ruddock (1879) 5 VLR 51 Re Spanish Prospecting Co. Ltd [1911] 1 Ch 92 Re Speck (1993) 51 BCLR 143 Thomas v FCT 3 ATR 165 United Dominions Corporation Ltd v Brian Pty Ltd (1985) 157 CLR Walker v Dubord (1992) 92 DLR (4th) 257 Re Estate of Wells 380 NW 2d 615 (1986) (FC SC Nebraska) DECISION : Accounting ordered.