“Cowshed Cinderella” and the Doctrine of Proprietary Estoppel

The case of the “Cowshed Cinderella” was widely reported in the media following a final decision of Cardiff High Court on 25^th February 2015.  The media interest sadly arose because it involved a dispute between parents and their daughter.

The parents,  Tegywn and Mary Davies, own a dairy farm in rural Wales. Their daughter,  Eirian  Davies, worked on the dairy farm for 30 years. She was paid very little but carried on helping to build the successful business on the understanding that it would pass to her when her parents died. In fact, the parents decided to leave the farm and the business to all three daughters equally in their wills. The term “Cowshed Cinderella” came about as Eirian said she was working all hours on the farm whilst her sisters spent their time partying.

The court proceedings started when the parents attempted to evict Eirian from her cottage as they were unhappy with the company she was keeping. Eirian then counter claimed that she had a financial interest in the farm and the business. She argued that she had relied on promises made by her parents that “the farm would be [yours] one day”.

Eirian’s case was based on the doctrine of Proprietory Estoppel. This covers the situation in which one party makes a representation and the other relies on this to their detriment. If a court is convinced that there has been “detrimental reliance” it can grant the claimant a financial interest in property even where nothing is written down.

Proprietory Estoppel is what is called an “equitable remedy”. Under English (and Welsh) law equitable remedies may be sought in cases in order to achieve fairness where no other legal remedy is available. Equitable remedies were developed in the time of Henry VII (1485-1509).

In order to convince a court that an equitable remedy should be granted there are a number of “equitable maxims” to which the claimant must adhere. These maxims are not absolute rules but rather a set of general principles. The one always remembered from law school is: “he who comes to equity must come with clean hands”. Other maxims include: “equity will not suffer a wrong to be without a remedy”. The thirteen maxims are translated from Latin hence the somewhat flowery language.

In May 2014 the Court of Appeal ruled that Eirian had a valid claim on the basis of Proprietory Estoppel and remitted the case back to the High Court in Cardiff to decide how much she should receive. The final judgment gave Eirian £1.3 million which is around one third of the value of the farm and the business.

It is a desperate situation for a family to fall out to the extent that they spend thousands on legal costs and have their dispute splashed all over the media. As this case was dealt with by the civil, not the family court, there were no media restrictions.

Whilst this case is extremely interesting for lawyers, let’s hope that the family can move on from the case and hopefully not let this divide them for generations to come.