Re Cole ([1964] 1 Ch 175, CA) also known as ex p. Trustee v Cole is a case in English property law dealing with the transfer of gifts.
English property law refers to the law of acquisition, sharing and protection of valuable assets in England and Wales. While part of the United Kingdom, many elements of Scots property law are different. In England, property law encompasses four main topics:
A gift, in the law of property, is the voluntary transfer of property from one person to another without full valuable consideration. In order for a gift to be legally effective, three requirements must be met:
Mr Cole bought, furnished and equipped a large house in London as the family home, costing him £20,000 overall. Later that year, his wife came to London to move into their new home. He said to her 'look, it's all yours'. Subsequently, Mr Cole went bankrupt and the contents of the home were claimed. However, Mrs Cole claimed that they had been gifted to her.
The case establishes that a gift of chattels cannot be perfected by showing them to a donee and stating words of gift. In order to establish a gift there are three requirements. Namely, perfecting a gift requires 1) Intention 2) Delivery and 3) Acceptance. In this case Mr Cole had, by words, shown intention to make a gift to Mrs Cole. He had not however, delivered anything to her, and she had not accepted anything.
In criminal law, intent is a subjective state of mind that must accompany the acts of certain crimes to constitute a violation. A more formal, generally synonymous legal term is scienter: intent or knowledge of wrongdoing.
Therefore, in this case it was held that physical delivery (and some form of acceptance) is required by law to perfect a gift.
Aubrey L. Diamond, 'When Is a Gift...?',The Modern Law Review, Vol. 27, No. 3 (May, 1964), pp. 357–360
Professor Aubrey Diamond was a lawyer, educator and public servant. Much of his focus was on consumer law.
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