“9. Prior to purchase of the flat, Mr Hasan had been trying to convince my mother to move from Pakistan to London for some time, for my stepsister Iman to be educated there after her secondary school education had finished, in time for her A Levels. Another consideration was that he was living mainly in Ukraine and the UK was an easier commute for him compared to Pakistan and he mentioned this in my presence on several occasions. After months of consideration, my mother agreed to this. 10. In the summer of 1998, my mother and Mr Hasan, were shown the flat by Plaza Estates on Edgware Road. It was newly refurbished and my mother liked it immediately as it was spacious. I went to the second viewing with her, and I believe that Mr Hasan had been to the first with her. After a few more viewings she and my stepfather decided to buy it. The flat was bought through Plaza Estates on Edgware Road and the two agents handling the sale were Ethan Fox and Barbara Mansour, who both work for different companies now. I remember them because I dealt with them many times, as they also used to manage the building. 11. My mother had asked her husband to put the flat in her name as she had been an integral part of his business dealings and was a director in the company that generated the income to buy the property, Integral Resources (PVT) Ltd (registered in Pakistan). She managed the company office in Pakistan and filed all the tax returns as Mr Hasan was often abroad in Ukraine or elsewhere, so she was well aware of how much money the company generated (although only had access to the company accounts in Pakistan, not those in England or Switzerland). He duly promised to put the flat in her name. 12. However, after completion of the purchase, towards the end of 1998, she found out that he had registered it in a company name, Digit Ltd. He claimed it was held by an offshore company for legal reasons and to be discrete> [sic] Prior to this my mother had no knowledge of Digit Ltd.”
“4. The Flat was bought by my husband for me. He was working on a multi million pound contract and I was helping him with it. He wanted me to come to live in London. I did not want to as I was happy in Pakistan. Eventually I agreed and he agreed to buy the flat in my name. I chose it and then I went back to Pakistan. While I was in Pakistan he phoned me to say that he had bought the Flat but had put it in the name of a company. I said that I thought it was in my name because he had agreed to that. He said he had put it in the company name to be discreet because of the big contract. 5. The Flat was bought for me and I have always considered it to be mine. I have decorated it and furnished it buying all the furniture and art in the Flat myself. My clothes and personal belongings are at the Flat. I do go back to Pakistan but I live here most of the time because my children live here.”
“The modification to which I have referred concerns the drawing of adverse inferences in claims for ancillary financial relief in matrimonial proceedings, which have some important distinctive features. There is a public interest in the proper maintenance of the wife by her former husband, especially (but not only) where the interests of the children are engaged. Partly for that reason, the proceedings although in form adversarial have a substantial inquisitorial element. The family finances will commonly have been the responsibility of the husband, so that although technically a claimant, the wife is in reality dependent on the disclosure and evidence of the husband to ascertain the extent of her proper claim. The concept of the burden of proof, which has always been one of the main factors inhibiting the drawing of adverse inferences from the absence of evidence or disclosure, cannot be applied in the same way to proceedings of this kind as it is in ordinary civil litigation. These considerations are not a licence to engage in pure speculation. But judges exercising family jurisdiction are entitled to draw on their experience and to take notice of the inherent probabilities when deciding what an uncommunicative husband is likely to be concealing. I refer to the husband because the husband is usually the economically dominant party, but of course the same applies to the economically dominant spouse whoever it is.”
“(1) Subject to the provision hereinafter contained with respect to the creation of interests in land by parol— (a) no interest in land can be created or disposed of except by writing signed by the person creating or conveying the same, or by his agent thereunto lawfully authorised in writing, or by will, or by operation of law; (b) a declaration of trust respecting any land or any interest therein must be manifested and proved by some writing signed by some person who is able to declare such trust or by his will; (c) a disposition of an equitable interest or trust subsisting at the time of the disposition, must be in writing signed by the person disposing of the same, or by his agent thereunto lawfully authorised in writing or by will. (2) This section does not affect the creation or operation of resulting, implied or constructive trusts.”
“In or about July 1998, the Claimant and Colonel ul-Hasan agreed as follows: a. The Claimant agreed to move from Pakistan to London; b. The Claimant would find a suitable flat for the family to live in; c. Colonel ul-Hasan would purchase the flat for the Claimant and in the name of the Claimant; d. The flat would be bought with the profits made by Integral Resources from the Ukraine contract which would otherwise have been paid (in whole or in part) to the Claimant; e. The Claimant would decorate and furnish the flat once purchased.” a. The Claimant agreed to move from Pakistan to London; b. The Claimant would find a suitable flat for the family to live in; c. Colonel ul-Hasan would purchase the flat for the Claimant and in the name of the Claimant; d. The flat would be bought with the profits made by Integral Resources from the Ukraine contract which would otherwise have been paid (in whole or in part) to the Claimant; e. The Claimant would decorate and furnish the flat once purchased.”