Sutton v Sutton

Sutton v Sutton [2009] EWHC 2576 (Ch): On a challenge to a lifetime transfer of property for want of capacity, the donor must have the degree of understanding appropriate to that particular transaction (the Re Beaney standard); where the gift is of the donor's principal asset (e.g. the family home) the requisite capacity is as high as testamentary capacity and includes understanding the effect of the gift on the estate. The court did NOT decide that a disposition by an incapable person is void rather than voidable - that question was left open, the court endorsing Warren J's view in Qutb v Hussain that Re Beaney is not authority for the 'void' proposition.