Trinity Term

[2012] UKSC 29
On appeal from: [2011] CHIH 25

JUDGMENT
Gow (FC) (Appellant) v Grant (Respondent)
(Scotland)

before

Lord Hope, Deputy President

Lady Hale
Lord Wilson
Lord Reed
Lord Carnwath

JUDGMENT GIVEN ON

4 July 2012
Heard on 24 May 2012

Appellant
Janys M Scott QC
Kirsty Malcolm
(Instructed by Hughes
Walker)

Respondent
Iain G Armstrong QC
Catherine Dowdalls
(Instructed by Allan
McDougall)

LORD HOPE (WITH WHOM LADY HALE, LORD WILSON, LORD

REED AND LORD CARNWATH AGREE)
1.
It was not until the end of the last century that those who were thinking
about the reform of the law in Scotland paid any attention to the problems created
when men and women decide to live together without getting married. The
traditional approach was that nothing short of marriage would create rights in each
others property in the event of death or separation. But entering into a regular
marriage, with all the formalities that this involved, was not essential. As every
student of Scots law knows, the common law recognised three ways in which an
irregular marriage could be constituted: by declaration de praesenti; by a promise
to marry subsequente copula; and by cohabitation with habit and repute. The first
two were abolished by the Marriage (Scotland) Act 1938. The third survived until
it too was abolished by section 3 of the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006.
2.
Irregular marriages had to be proved, however. So a form of action was
devised for this purpose. Either of the parties could bring proceedings for
declarator of marriage, even after the death of the other party. The declarator was
a judgment in rem. Its effect was to provide conclusive proof that a marriage had
been constituted, and it was binding on all persons whomsoever: Longworth v
Yelverton (1867) 5 M (HL) 144, per Lord Chancellor Chelmsford at 147. There
were various reasons why such an order might be sought. Usually it was to obtain
the benefit of the property rights that were enjoyed by the parties to a regular
marriage. Before the law on legitimacy was reformed it was used to enable the
children of the relationship to obtain the rights that were conferred on the children
of a marriage too. Very occasionally, when it was still the practice for undefended
actions of divorce to be heard in the Court of Session, the unremitting diet of
divorce proofs would be varied by an action for declarator of marriage which the
other party did not wish to defend.
3.
But the opportunity of proving a marriage by cohabitation with habit and
repute was of use only to those who had the capacity to marry, were free to do so
and were content to live together as husband and wife. It was not available to
cohabiting couples who had deliberately chosen not to marry. And couples who
had not made that choice but had made no effort to pretend that they were married
to each other were unlikely to be able to produce evidence of habit and repute to
show that they were living together as husband and wife. It was an unsatisfactory
system, as many people who had committed themselves to a relationship as
cohabiting couples and were under the impression that their relationship was one
of common law marriage were unable to meet the legal requirements of the
common law. Social attitudes were changing too, and pre-marital cohabitation was
Page 2

becoming the norm. One of the recommendations in the Scottish Law

Commissions Report on Family Law (Scot Law Com No 135) (6 May 1992) was
that this form of irregular marriage should be abolished, as it was anomalous:
recommendation 42. It addressed the issue of cohabitation in Part XVI of the same
report. This issue had been the subject of a discussion paper issued two years
previously: The Effects of Cohabitation in Private Law (Discussion Paper No 86,
May 1990).
4.
In para 16.1 of its Report the Scottish Law Commission said that the results
of its consultation, and of a survey of public opinion, had confirmed it in its view
that there was a strong case for some limited reform of Scottish private law to
enable certain legal difficulties faced by cohabiting couples to be overcome and to
enable certain anomalies to be remedied. It accepted, however, that legal
intervention in this area, as to which widely differing views were held, ought to be
limited. There was a respectable body of opinion that it would be unwise to impose
marriage-like legal consequences on couples who had deliberately chosen not to
marry. The reform ought not to undermine marriage, nor should it undermine the
freedom of those who had deliberately opted out of marriage.
5.
It went on to say that the presumption of equal sharing of household goods
acquired during marriage under section 25(2) of the Family Law (Scotland) Act
1985 should, in a case of cohabitation, be modified. A comprehensive system of
financial provision on termination of cohabitation comparable to the system of
financial provision on divorce on principles analogous to those in sections 9(1)(d)
or 9(1)(e) of the 1985 Act was not favoured. That would be to impose a regime of
property sharing, and in some cases, continuing financial support on couples who
might well have opted for cohabitation to avoid such consequences: para 16.15.
But the principle in section 9(1)(b), which enables fair account to be taken of any
economic advantage derived by either party from contributions by the other, and of
any economic disadvantage suffered by either party in the interests of the other
party or the family could be applied, quite readily and appropriately, to
cohabitants: para 16.18. A similar approach was taken to the question whether a
surviving cohabitant should succeed on intestacy to his or her deceased partners
estate. A discretionary system, to enable the court to take account of all the
circumstances of the relationship, would be preferable to any fixed rules.
6.
These proposals were summarised in recommendations 80 to 83, and a draft
Bill was appended to the Report. Part III of the Bill dealt with cohabitation. More
than 10 years were to pass, however, before legislation was introduced to give
effect to these recommendations. In the meantime the trend for couples to prefer
cohabitation rather than marriage had increased. It was estimated that, of families
by type of family in Scotland, the percentage of cohabiting couple families had
increased from 4% in 1991 to 7% in 2001, and that the percentage of married
couple families had decreased from 50.7% in 1991 to 42.5% in 2001: Legal
Page 3

Practitioners Perspectives on the Cohabitation Provisions of the Family Law

(Scotland) Act 2006 (Centre for Research on Families and Relationships,
University
of
Edinburgh,
May
2010):
see
http://www.crfr.ac.uk/reports/Cohabitation%20final%20report.pdf. This is a trend
which can be expected to have continued.
7.
In March 1999 the Scottish Office Home Department issued a Consultation
Paper entitled Improving Scottish Family Law. But the opportunity to bring the
Scottish Law Commissions proposals into law did not present itself at
Westminster during the period prior to the coming into effect of the Scotland Act
1998. The process of consultation was then taken up by the Scottish Executive,
and on 7 February 2005 a Bill which became the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006
was introduced by the then Minister for Justice, Cathy Jamieson. It was considered
by, among others, the Justice 1 Committee whose Stage 1 Report was published on
7 July 2005. In accordance with the normal procedure the Deputy Minister of
Justice, Hugh Henry, provided a detailed written response to the issues raised by
the Committee in August 2005. The Stage 2 procedure then followed, and there
was a debate in the Parliament on 15 December 2005 when the Bill was passed.
The Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006, asp 2, received its Royal Assent on 20
January 2006.
8.
This appeal is concerned with the meaning and effect of section 28 of the
2006 Act. It provides that a cohabitant can apply to a court for financial provision
when the cohabitation has ended otherwise than by the death of one of the
cohabitants. The drafting of this section was much criticised while it was
undergoing Parliamentary scrutiny, and the questions that it raises are not free
from difficulty.
The facts
9.
The appellant, Mrs Gow, met the respondent, Mr Grant, in 2001 at a singles
club which they had both joined. Mrs Gow, who was born on 2 January 1937, was
then about 64. Mr Grant, who was born on 18 December 1943, was about 58.
They commenced a relationship, and in about December 2002 Mr Grant asked Mrs
Gow to live with him at his home in Penicuik. Mrs Gow agreed to do so if they
became engaged to be married, which they then did. They lived together as
husband and wife and engaged in an active social life together from June 2003 to
January 2008, when their relationship came to an end.
10.
When the parties met they each owned their own home and they were each
in employment. Mrs Gow owned a studio flat in Edinburgh which was subject to
an interest only mortgage, of which 11,876 was outstanding in December 2002.
Page 4

Mr Grant owned a three bedroom house in Penicuik which was free of any
mortgage. He encouraged Mrs Gow to sell her flat. Indeed, as Sheriff Mackie who
conducted the proof put it in para 4 of her note, her evidence, which the sheriff
accepted, was that he was adamant that she should do so. Mrs Gow, as the owner
of the property, dealt with the legal and practical aspects of the sale. But Mr Grant
discussed the sale with her and gave her advice, particularly as to the price at
which the property should be offered. The sheriff held that there was no evidence
that Mrs Gow was forced to sell the flat because she was in financial difficulties.
She accepted that Mrs Gow sold the property in the interests of furthering her
relationship with Mr Grant.
11.
The flat was sold in June 2003 for 50,000, from which Mrs Gow received
a net sum after repayment of the mortgage and expenses of 36,559. She used the
money to repay various debts, including credit card debts and the balance of the
cost of a new kitchen, amounting in total to 14,133. She invested 5,000 in a
guaranteed investment account and 5,000 in a Sterling Investment Bond, and she
loaned 4,000 to her son. The balance of 8,425 was contributed by Mrs Gow to
her relationship with Mr Grant, as it was used towards the parties living expenses.
Mr Grant was able to continue to live in his own house when the parties
relationship came to an end. It was worth about 200,000 in June 2003. Mrs Gow
continued to live in Mr Grants home until she obtained rented accommodation in
June 2009. The sheriff found that the value in July 2009 of the flat which had
formerly belonged to her was 88,000. The difference between that figure and the
price at which the flat was sold in June 2003 was 38,000.
12.
Mrs Gow was employed as an audio typist until the parties began living
together. Her contract came to an end in May 2003, and at Mr Grants request she
did not seek further work. She was in receipt of an occupational pension and a
state pension amounting in total to about 640 per month. Mr Grant was employed
part time as a lecturer at Jewel & Esk Valley College. He was also in receipt of a
widowers pension from the Bank of Scotland in excess of 600 per month. He
stopped working as a lecturer in 2006, and obtained part time work as a courier.
During their cohabitation the parties purchased two timeshare weeks in their joint
names, each of which cost 7,000. Mrs Gow paid 1,500 towards the first week,
and in about July 2005 she surrendered her Sterling Investment Bond and used the
proceeds together with other funds to pay the whole price of the second week. In
about 2006 her guaranteed investment account matured in the sum of about
6,000. She spent 2,000 on paintings, two of which she gave to Mr Grant, and
spent 1,000 on a holiday. The balance of the proceeds was used towards the
parties day-to-day expenses.
13.
In consequence of the position in which she found herself when the
cohabitation came to an end Mrs Gow brought an action against Mr Grant in the
Sheriff Court in Edinburgh, in which she sought payment of a capital sum in terms
Page 5

of section 28 of the 2006 Act. It was not disputed that the parties were cohabitants
in terms of section 25 of the Act, which provides that the word cohabitant
means, in the case of two persons of the opposite sex, a man and a woman who
are, or were, living together as if they were husband and wife. Mr Grant
maintained, however, on various grounds that Mrs Gow was not entitled to any
payment under section 28.
Section 28 of the 2006 Act
14.
Section 28(1) provides that subsection (2) of that section applies where
cohabitants cease to cohabit otherwise than by reason of the death of one (or both)
of them. Subsections (2) to (6) are in these terms:
(2) On the application of a cohabitant (the applicant), the
appropriate court may, after having regard to the matters mentioned
in subsection (3)
(a) make an order requiring the other cohabitant (the defender) to
pay a capital sum of an amount specified in the order to the
applicant;
(b) make an order requiring the defender to pay such amount as may
be specified in the order in respect of any economic burden of
caring, after the end of the cohabitation, for a child of whom the
cohabitants are the parents;
(c) make such interim order as it thinks fit.
(3) Those matters are
(a) whether (and, if so, to what extent) the defender has derived
economic advantage from contributions made by the applicant; and
(b) whether (and, if so, to what extent) the applicant has suffered
economic disadvantage in the interests of
(i) the defender; or

Page 6

(ii) any relevant child.

(4) In considering whether to make an order under subsection (2)(a),
the appropriate court shall have regard to the matters mentioned in
subsections (5) and (6).
(5) The first matter is the extent to which any economic advantage
derived by the defender from contributions made by the applicant is
offset by any economic disadvantage suffered by the defender in the
interests of
(a) the applicant; or
(b) any relevant child.
(6) The second matter is the extent to which any economic
disadvantage suffered by the applicant in the interests of
(a) the defender; or
(b) any relevant child,
is offset by any economic advantage the applicant has derived from
contributions made by the defender.
Subsection (4), (5) and (6) were inserted into the draft Bill at Stage 2 of the
proceedings in the Parliament.
15.
In subsection (9) the expressions contributions and economic advantage
are defined. Contributions includes indirect and non-financial contributions.
Economic advantage includes gains in capital, income and earning capacity; and
economic disadvantage is to be construed accordingly. The same expressions,
together with the phrase in the interests of, appear in section 9(1)(b) of the
Family Law (Scotland) Act 1985. But the wording of that provision, which sets out
one of the principles which the court is to apply in deciding what order for
financial provision to make on divorce, is not the same as that used in section
28(5) and (6) of the 2006 Act. Section 9(1)(b) states that fair account is to be
taken of any economic advantage and disadvantage, whereas the extent of the
Page 7

economic advantage and disadvantage mentioned in section 28(5) and (6) are
matters to which section 28(4) says the court is to have regard in considering
whether to make an order under section 28(2)(a). Nor is the context, as one of the
principles to be applied on divorce is that the net value of the matrimonial property
should be shared fairly between the parties to the marriage and the sharing is to be
taken to have been fair if the property is shared equally: sections 9(1)(a) and 10(1)
of the 1985 Act. Section 28 requires the court to conduct an entirely different
exercise.
The proceedings below
16.
The sheriff delivered her judgment on 7 December 2009: 2010 Fam LR 21.
She observed in para 39 of her note, at the outset of her discussion of the issues,
that the approach which she required to adopt was not the same as under section
9(1)(b) of the 1985 Act, as there was no matrimonial property to be divided fairly
between the parties. Concentrating on the language of section 28 in para 41, she
noted that section 28 says that the court may make an order in terms of section
28(2) after having regard to the matters mentioned in section 28(3)(a) and (b). So
the court had a discretion to make an order, and a precise calculation of loss did
not require to be made. It was significant that the court was not directed to make a
fair division of property acquired during or for the purpose of cohabitation.
17.
Having regard to section 28(3)(a), the sheriff said in para 48 that she was
satisfied that Mrs Gow had contributed financially to the parties expenditure
during the period of cohabitation, and that Mr Grant had also derived an economic
advantage from her non-financial contribution in looking after the house in which
the parties cohabited and in other ways. She then had to consider under section
28(5) the extent to which the economic advantage enjoyed by Mr Grant had been
offset by economic disadvantage suffered by him in the interests of Mrs Gow. It
appeared to her that there was no evidence that he had suffered any such economic
disadvantage: para 55.
18.
As for section 28(3)(b), the sheriff said in para 56 that she was satisfied on
the evidence that Mrs Gow had suffered economic disadvantage in the interests of
Mr Grant. She accepted Mrs Gows evidence that the only reason that she sold her
house was as a result of Mr Grants encouragement and in the interests of
furthering the relationship. She also accepted her evidence that had she not
embarked on a new life with Mr Grant she would have continued to maintain her
own property and would have continued to work to enable her to do so. As a result
of the sale she had lost her principal capital asset, required now to live in rental
accommodation and was unlikely to be able to afford to purchase another property.
She had enjoyed the benefit of a substantial amount of the sale proceeds, but the
balance of 8,000 had been contributed to the parties relationship. As the value of
Page 8

her flat was 88,000 in July 2009, she had suffered economic disadvantage in the
interests of Mr Grant to the extent of 38,000, which was the difference between
the sale proceeds and the flats current value: para 59. Although the parties owned
the two weeks timeshare jointly, Mrs Gow had paid more than 50% of the price.
She had suffered economic disadvantage in the interests of Mr Grant to the extent
of 1,500 in the acquisition of these assets: para 60.
19.
Turning lastly to section 28(6), the sheriff examined the question whether
any economic disadvantage suffered by Mrs Gow in the interests of Mr Grant was
offset by any economic advantage derived by her from contributions made by Mr
Grant. It was not disputed that he had made various contributions, financial and
non-financial, to the relationship. But in her opinion such contributions as were
made were not sufficient to offset the economic disadvantage suffered by Mrs
Gow in the interests of Mr Grant: para 65. Her conclusion, having regard to the
matters to which she was directed to have regard by the statute, was that there was
a net economic disadvantage in favour of Mrs Gow, and that she should be
compensated in the sum of 39,500.
20.
Mr Grant appealed against the sheriffs decision to the Inner House of the
Court of Session. The appeal was heard by the Second Division (the Lord Justice
Clerk (Gill), Lord Mackay of Drumadoon and Lord Drummond Young), and the
opinion of the court was delivered by Lord Drummond Young on 22 March 2011:
[2011] CSIH 25, 2011 SC 618. The appeal was allowed and Mrs Gows
application for an award of a capital sum was refused.
21.
Lord Drummond Young noted in para 3 of his opinion that there had been a
number of cases which disclosed varying and contradictory approaches to the
construction of section 28. But he said that it was not necessary for present
purposes for the court to express any view on the detailed issues that arose in them,
nor was it necessary for it to express any general view as to the construction of
section 28. He did however make two observations. First, in contrast to the scheme
in sections 8 to 10 of the 1985 Act as to the rights of a spouse on divorce, the
financial provision which the court was permitted to make by section 28 was in the
nature of compensation for an imbalance of economic advantage or disadvantage.
Secondly, the court had to have regard to the precise wording of the section, and it
must be satisfied that the requirements set out in the section are satisfied on the
evidence. The difficulties would be minimised if it was recognised that the
objective of the section was limited in scope. It was intended to enable the court to
correct any clear and quantifiable economic imbalance that might have resulted
from cohabitation.
22.
After summarising the findings of fact and the crucial part of the sheriffs
reasoning, Lord Drummond Young said in para 9 that the court was of the opinion
Page 9

that the sheriffs award was not justified by her findings of fact. Three reasons for
this conclusion are set out in that paragraph. First, what was required by the phrase
in the interests of in section 28(3)(b) was that the applicant should suffer an
economic disadvantage in a manner intended to benefit the defender. In the
present case all that the findings of fact indicated was that Mrs Gow was
encouraged to sell her house. The proceeds were then used either for her own
purposes or to meet the parties joint living expenses. And the fact that the sale
was encouraged by Mr Grant was clearly insufficient to draw the inference that the
transaction was in his interests. Secondly, the fact that the sale was intended to
further the parties relationship was insufficient to justify the conclusion that it was
in the defenders interests. These two matters appeared to the court to be
conceptually quite distinct. Thirdly, to the extent that Mrs Gow might be said to
have suffered an economic disadvantage in relation to the timeshares, it was
plainly offset by the economic advantage that Mrs Gow derived from Mr Grants
contributions towards joint living expenses.
The issues
23.
The parties are agreed that the decision of the Inner House raises the
following issues:
(i) Is an intention to benefit the other cohabitant a necessary element
of the requirements of section 28(3)(b) and (6)?
(ii) Is it necessary for the applicant to establish that the defender
derived actual economic benefit as a result of economic disadvantage
suffered by the applicant?
(iii) Must any benefit so conferred be in the interests of the defender
alone, or may it be of benefit to both parties?
(iv) Whether, if relevant economic disadvantage is established which
is not offset by relevant economic advantage, the court has a
discretion as to the amount of any award, and the extent of any such
discretion.
24.
For Mr Grant it was submitted that, having regard to the ordinary meaning
of the text of section 28, an intention to benefit the other cohabitant is essential for
a claim under that section to succeed. It was also submitted that, for a claim under
that section based on economic disadvantage to succeed, it is necessary for the
applicant to establish that, as a result of economic disadvantage suffered by the
Page 10

applicant, the defender has derived economic benefit. It was accepted that the
words of the section are not apt to exclude a successful claim where both parties
have benefitted from economic disadvantage suffered by the other. On the other
hand, for a claim to succeed, it is not sufficient simply to establish economic
disadvantage in the interests of the parties wider, non-economic affairs, such as
the nature of their relationship or other social or emotional concerns. The section
requires the court to assess the net economic advantage or disadvantage derived or
suffered by each party.
Background
25.
In order to find an answer to these problems it is necessary to look more
closely at the background to the legislation. What was the mischief that section 28
was designed to address? And what were the principles to which it seeks to give
effect?
26.
As already mentioned (see para 5, above), the Scottish Law Commission
rejected the concept of equal sharing where a relationship of cohabitation was
terminated: Report on Family Law, para 16.15. On the other hand it recommended
that a former cohabitant should be able to apply for a financial provision based on
the principle in section 9(1)(b) of the 1985 Act. The existing common law on
unjustified enrichment did not provide a clear or certain remedy: para 16.17. The
principle in section 9(1)(b), on the other hand, could be applied, quite readily and
appropriately, to cohabitants. The argument for doing so was that it would be
unfair to let economic gains and losses arising out of contributions or sacrifices
made in the course of a relationship simply lie where they fell. Applying it would
give them the benefit of a principle which was designed to correct imbalances
arising out of a non-commercial relationship where parties are quite likely to make
contributions or sacrifices without counting the cost or bargaining for a return:
para 16.18.
27.
The formula which is set out in section 9(1)(b) was adopted in clause 36(2)
of the draft Bill which was annexed to the Report. It provided:
(2) The court shall make an award to the applicant in pursuance of
an application under subsection (1) above only if it is satisfied
(a) that the other former cohabitant has derived economic advantage
from contributions by the applicant, or that the applicant has suffered
economic disadvantage in the interests of the other former cohabitant
or their children; and
Page 11

(b) that having regard to all the circumstances of the case it is fair
and reasonable to make such an award.
In para 16.20 the Commission observed that, although a claim based on
contributions or sacrifices could often not be valued precisely, it would provide a
way of awarding fair compensation, on a rough and ready valuation, in cases
where otherwise none could be claimed.
28.
The Deputy Minister for Justice, Hugh Henry, commented on the provisions
in the Bill relating to legal safeguards for cohabiting couples and their children in
his response to the Justice 1 Committees Stage 1 Report on the Bill in August
2005. He said that it might be helpful if he clarified the policy principles that had
informed the detailed drafting. The Executives view was that the function of the
law in relation to cohabitants should be both protective and remedial. The law
needed to provide a framework for a fair remedy when committed relationships
founder or the parties to them are separated by death.
Our focus in policy terms is therefore on those cohabiting
relationships which offer some evidence of the parties commitment
to a joint life. It is that evidence that justifies a remedial intervention
by law, the allocation of rights and obligations by the parties towards
one another, and the redistribution of certain of their property. At the
same time, however, we think it would be wrong to impose on
cohabitants a legal requirement to support one another financially
during the relationship: we can never know why people have not
married and chosen not to incur that responsibility and in the absence
of such knowledge we believe an obligation of mutual aliment would
be unjustifiable. Our sense of a fair and just outcome when
committed relationships come to an end involves setting a
framework for compensation where one partner can show that they
have suffered net economic disadvantage in the interests of the
relationship.
29.
Reference to Parliamentary material has, of course, become commonplace
since the previous rule that excluded this was relaxed by Pepper v Hart [1983] AC
593, and the rather strict rules that were laid down in that case have become
gradually more relaxed. It remains the case that this approach should be used only
where the legislation is ambiguous, and then only with circumspection. When it is
used, however, the purpose of the exercise is to determine the intention of the
legislator. The Deputy Ministers remarks were set out in a letter. They were not
made orally in the course of a debate in the Committee or in the Parliament. But I
do not think that this, in itself, is a reason for excluding reference to them. It is the
normal procedure for Ministers to provide the relevant committee with a letter
Page 12

setting out the governments views in response to issues raised by the committee in
its Stage 1 Report. This is the kind of thing that is done orally under the procedures
which are familiar in the case of the Parliament at Westminster. The Scottish
Parliament has devised a different system of procedure, but that should not inhibit
reference to written material of this kind that may be of assistance. In my opinion
the Deputy Ministers letter is as much a guide as to the intention of the legislator
as if its contents had been set out in a statement made by him to the Justice 1
Committee orally.
30.
When the Bill was debated in the Parliament on 15 December 2005 the
Minister for Justice, Cathy Jamieson, said that the Executive had been at pains to
ensure two things (Official Report, col 21922):
first, that any financial award that the courts make to an applicant
addresses the net economic disadvantage that the person may face as
a direct result of joint decisions that were made by the couple during
the relationship; and secondly, that the economic burden of caring
for a child that cohabitants have had together is shared until the child
is 16.
Later in the same contribution which she made to the debate, referring to what is
now section 28 of the Act, she said (ibid):
Cohabitants are under no legal obligation to aliment each other
during their relationship, so there is no reason that we should seek to
ensure that they do so when the relationship is over. However, it is
important to achieve fairness. That is why we have adopted the
provisions set out in section 21. Those provisions will ensure that
one partner compensates the other for any net economic
disadvantage that has resulted from the relationship that they formed
together and that they will share the cost of caring for their children.
We believe that that offers fairness to both parties, while respecting
their rights to live as they choose without the Government imposing
other financial obligations.
31.
Common to all these statements is an emphasis on fairness to both parties.
This is the principle that lies at the heart of the award that the court is able to make
under this section. The words fair and reasonable which were in clause 36(2)(b)
of the Scottish Law Commissions draft Bill do not appear anywhere in section 28.
It lacks any reference to fairness as the guiding principle. But the background
shows that this is what was intended by the legislature. Section 28(2) tells the court
that it may make the orders of the kind referred to in subsection (1) after having
Page 13

regard to the matters referred to in subsection (3), and the same phrase appears
again in subsection (4). The purpose of this exercise must be taken to be to achieve
fairness between both parties to the relationship in the assessment of any capital
sum that the defender is to be ordered to pay to the other cohabitant. The same
approach must be taken to the sharing of the economic burden of caring for any
child of whom they are the parents.
32.
Fairness in the context of section 28 embraces a different concept than it
does in the context of section 9(1) of the 1985 Act. Section 9(1)(a) states that one
of the principles that the court must apply is that the net value of the matrimonial
property should be shared fairly between the parties to the marriage. This
provision must be read together with section 10(1), which states that in applying
the principle which it sets out the net value of the matrimonial property shall be
taken to be shared fairly when it is shared equally or in such other proportions as
are justified by special circumstances. As Sheriff M G Hendry observed in F v D
2009 Fam LR 111, para 7, the rebuttable presumption at the stage of the
dissolution of a marriage or civil partnership is that property will be shared fairly if
it is shared equally. The rebuttable presumption at the end of cohabitation is that
each party will retain his or her own property.
33.
In that context what section 28 seeks to achieve is fairness in the assessment
of compensation for contributions made or economic disadvantages suffered in the
interests of the relationship. The wording of subsections (3), (5) and (6) should be
read broadly rather than narrowly, bearing in mind the point that the Scottish Law
Commission made in para 16.18 that the principle in section 9(1)(b) of the 1985
Act which these subsections adopt was designed to correct imbalances arising out
of a non-commercial relationship where parties are quite likely to make
contributions or sacrifices without counting the cost or bargaining for a return. As
Lady Hale points out (see para 54, below), in most cases it is quite impracticable to
work out who has paid for what and who has enjoyed what benefits in kind during
the cohabitation, as people do not keep such running accounts and the cost of
working things out in detail is quite disproportionate to the task of doing justice
between the parties.
Discussion
34.
The first point to be considered is whether section 9(1)(b) of the 1985 Act
has any bearing on the way the matters referred to in section 28(3), (5) and (6) of
the 2006 Act should be approached. The Second Division say in para 3 of their
opinion that sections 8 to 10 of the 1985 Act have no bearing on the construction
of section 28. This, as they observe in the same paragraph, is a matter on which
varying and contradictory views have been expressed: contrast, for example, the
Lord Ordinarys opinion in M v S [2008] CSOH 125, 2008 SLT 871, para 272, that
Page 14

the provisions, while not absolutely identical, are so similar as to make it clear that
the Scottish Parliament must have intended the courts to approach them in the
same way, with Sheriff K R W Hoggs observation in Jamieson v Rodhouse 2009
Fam LR 111, para 51 that they are of no assistance. In this case Sheriff Mackie
said in para 39 of her note that, as there are no references in section 28 to fair
and reasonable division and the Minister for Justice said during Stage 3 of the
Bill that the provisions were not about seeking to replicate the financial
arrangements between spouses and civil partners, there was force in the argument
that one cannot adopt the same approach in its application as that to claims in
terms of section 9(1)(b).
35.
It is, of course, true that section 28 does not seek to replicate the
arrangements that are available for financial provision on divorce or the
termination of a civil partnership. For this reason it would not be right to adopt the
same approach to the application of that section as would be appropriate if the
exercise was being conducted under section 9 of the 1985 Act. The starting points
of principle are significantly different: Malcolm, Kendall and Kellas, Cohabitation
(2nd edition, 2011), para 1-10. But it is sufficiently clear from the background to
the enactment of section 28 that in its case too the underlying principle is one of
fairness and that it is designed to correct imbalances of the kind referred to by the
Scottish Law Commission in para 16.18 of its Report. The Deputy Minister for
Justice referred to the Executives sense of a fair and just outcome: para 28, above.
The Minister for Justice too said that it was important to achieve fairness, and that
the Executive believed that the provisions offered fairness to both parties: para 30,
above. As Sheriff A D Miller put it in Lindsay v Murphy 2010 Fam LR 156, para
58, the statutory purpose does no more than reflect the reality that cohabitation is a
less formal, less structured and more flexible form of relationship than either
marriage or civil partnership.
36.
I think therefore, contrary to the views expressed by the Second Division in
para 3, that it would be wrong to approach section 28 on the basis that it was
intended simply to enable the court to correct any clear and quantifiable economic
imbalance that may have resulted from the cohabitation. That is too narrow an
approach. As the Commission observed in para 16.20 of its Report, a claim based
on contributions or sacrifices in non-commercial relationships of the kind that
family law must deal with cannot often be valued precisely. Section 9(1)(b)
enables fair compensation to be awarded, on a rough and ready valuation, in cases
where otherwise none could be claimed. Section 28 is designed to achieve the
same effect. So it may be helpful to refer to cases decided under section 9(1)(b)
when the court is considering what might be taken to be an economic advantage,
disadvantage or contribution for this purpose or how the economic burden of
caring for a child is to be dealt with under section 28(2)(b). An assessment of what
is in the interests of any relevant child cannot sensibly be reduced to purely
financial factors.
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37.
The next point is directed to the meaning and effect of the phrase in the
interests of the defender in section 28(3)(b) and (6). Lord Drummond Young said
in para 9 of his opinion that the phrase requires that the applicant should suffer
economic disadvantage in a manner intended to benefit the defender, and that the
transaction in question must have been in that partys interests. That interpretation
provided the basis for holding that the sheriff erred in making an award in this
case. Her findings were that the sale of the house was encouraged by Mr Grant,
that it was undertaken in the interests of furthering the relationship and that the
proceeds were used in part to meet the parties joint living expenses. But this was
held to be insufficient to show that it was intended by Mrs Gow to benefit Mr
Grant. An intention to further the parties relationship did not justify the
conclusion that the sale was in his interests.
38.
Here again, however, this is to take too narrow a view of the effect of these
provisions. The phrase in the interests of the defender can be taken to mean in
a manner intended to benefit the defender. But it does not compel that
interpretation, and in the present context, where the guiding principle is one of
fairness, its more natural meaning is directed to the effect of the transaction rather
than the intention with which it was entered into. The reference to the defender at
the end of the phrase does, of course, require that the disadvantage which the
applicant suffered was in his interests. But it does not say that this must have been
his interests only, or that the fact that it was in the applicants interests also means
that it must be left out of account. Still less does it say that interests have to be
equated with economic advantage or benefit. To adopt that interpretation does not
fit easily with a relationship of this kind, where many decisions are taken jointly in
its interests without counting the cost or bargaining for a return: see para 16.18 of
the Scottish Law Commissions Report. Nor does it fit in with the reference to the
interests of any relevant child in section 28(3)(b). I agree with the approach that
Sheriff Principal R A Dunlop QC took to this problem in Mitchell v Gibson 2011
Fam LR 53, para 13. Provided that disadvantage has been suffered in the interests
of the defender to some extent, the door is open to an award of a capital sum even
though it may also have been suffered in the interests of the applicant.
39.
It seems to me, therefore, that the Second Divisions discussion of the
sheriffs reasoning did not give effect to the true meaning and effect of sections
28(3)(b) and (6) of the 2006 Act. The sheriff was entitled to take the sale of the
house into account, notwithstanding her findings that the proceeds were used by
Mrs Gow for her own purposes or to meet the parties joint living expenses, that it
was encouraged by Mr Grant and that it was in the interests of furthering the
parties relationship. The question for her was whether, at the end of the exercise
directed by the subsections, the applicant was left with some economic
disadvantage for which an award might be made. But, as the sheriff said in para 45
of her note, it would be an unusual relationship if parties, from the
commencement, proceeded to keep full and detailed accounts of their respective
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finances so that upon termination a mathematical calculation might be made of any

contributions made, economic advantage derived or disadvantage suffered.
40.
The Second Division appear to have overlooked the sheriffs finding that
the economic disadvantage that Mrs Gow suffered in the interests of Mr Grant was
her loss of the benefit of the increase in value of her principal capital asset. They
concentrated on Mrs Gows use of the proceeds as showing that the transaction
was not, on their interpretation of sections 28(3)(b) and (6), intended to benefit Mr
Grant and in his interests. The sheriff, for her part, accepted that Mrs Gow had had
the benefit of a substantial amount of the sale proceeds. So she left the proceeds
out of account in her assessment. But she had a discretion as to what order she
should make. The overriding principle was one of fairness, rather than precise
economic calculation having regard, as Lady Hale puts it in para 54, to where the
parties were at the beginning of their cohabitation and where they were at the end.
She was entitled to hold that the loss of the benefit of the increase in value was an
economic disadvantage, and that it was suffered by Mrs Gow in the interests of her
relationship with Mr Grant. As she noted in para 66 of her note, when the
cohabitation ended Mrs Gow did not have a home whereas Mr Grant still had a
home which had increased in value. I do not think that her conclusion that Mrs
Gow should be compensated for that disadvantage can reasonably be criticised.
41.
There remains the sum that the sheriff awarded in relation to the acquisition
of the timeshare. The Second Division held in para 10 of their opinion that it was
unwarranted. Their reasons for doing so were not based on a finding that, in
making this award, the sheriff erred in principle. They were based on their own
analysis of the facts. Reference was made to the fact that the sum in question was
relatively small in relation to the parties total expenditure and the fact that they
enjoyed a relatively extravagant lifestyle, with both incurring substantial amounts
of debt in order to fund it. Reference was also made to relative significance of the
contributions made by one party to the other when set against their level of
expenditure.
42.
It is clear, however, from the sheriffs note that this part of her award was
arrived at after carrying out a careful analysis of all the facts. Section 28 leaves
both the making of an award and the amount to be awarded to the discretion of the
court. There must, of course, be a basis in fact for the decision that it takes. But,
as Sheriff Principal Dunlop observed in Mitchell v Gibson, para 13, as with all
discretionary decisions, the scope for interference by the appellate court is
constrained according to well recognised principles. It is clear that it ought not to
interfere with the decision of a judge in the exercise of his discretion unless it can
be shown that he misdirected himself in law or failed to take account of a material
factor or reached a result which was manifestly inequitable or plainly wrong: Gray
v Gray 1968 SC 185, per Lord Guthrie at p 193; see also Little v Little 1990 SLT
785, 786. The making of an award under section 28 of the 2006 Act is as much a
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matter of discretion as it is under section 9 of the 1985 Act, and the same
principles apply in its case too. I do not think that the Second Division were able to
demonstrate in their reasoning that they had a proper basis for disturbing this part
of the sheriffs award.
Conclusion
43.
In my opinion the sheriffs approach to the issues with which she was faced
in this case cannot be faulted. She based her conclusions on a careful analysis of
all the issues that she was directed by section 28 to consider, and it was well within
the band of reasonable decisions that were open to her. I would allow the appeal,
recall the Second Divisions interlocutor and affirm the sheriffs finding in fact and
law that the pursuer has suffered economic disadvantage in the interests of the
defender to the extent of 39,500.

LADY HALE (WITH WHOM LORD WILSON AND LORD CARNWATH

AGREE)
44.
I agree that this appeal should be allowed for the reasons given by Lord
Hope. I add a few words because there are lessons to be learned from this case in
England and Wales.
45.
The first is that there is a need for some such remedy as this in England and
Wales. In July 2007, the Law Commission published their report on Cohabitation:
the financial consequences of relationship breakdown (Law Com No 307). They
too rejected two of the principles which are applicable to financial relief upon the
breakdown of a marriage: they would not impose upon unmarried couples the
principle that marital assets should be fairly shared between them or that either
should provide for the needs of the other. These reflect the concept of partnership
and the responsibilities towards one another which are undertaken in marriage but
not in setting up home together. But setting up home together may well result
either in benefit to one party or in loss to the other for which it would be fair to
expect some redress. Like the Scots, therefore, the Law Commission adopted a
principle of compensation for the economic advantages and disadvantages
resulting from the relationship, although the details of their scheme contained
some important differences from the Scots.
46.
The Government had invited the Law Commission to undertake the project
as a matter of some urgency and, unusually, the Report was produced without a
draft Bill attached. In March 2008, however, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of
State for Justice (Bridget Prentice) announced that the Government proposed to
Page 18

await the results of research into the Scottish scheme before deciding what to do. It
was said then that the Scottish Executive intended to undertake research into the
cost of such a scheme and its efficacy in resolving the issues faced by cohabitants
when their relationships end. The Government therefore planned to extrapolate
the likely cost in England and Wales of bringing into effect a similar scheme and
the likely benefits it would bring (Hansard, HC Deb 6 March 2008, c122WS).
47.
While one can understand entirely that it is prudent to try to estimate the
likely cost of any new legislation, it is much more difficult to understand how the
benefits can be quantified. Nor can the benefits in England and Wales be directly
compared with those in Scotland. The existing law relating to cohabitants
property rights is quite different in England and Wales and has led to a good deal
of litigation. It has twice recently had to be clarified by the highest court in the
land (Stack v Dowden [2007] 2 AC 432, Jones v Kernott [2011] UKSC 53, [2011]
3 WLR 1121). There is some reason to think that a family law remedy such as that
proposed by the Law Commission would be less costly and more productive of
settlements as well as achieving fairer results than the present law.
48.
Be that as it may, there is, so far as I am aware, no published research
commissioned by the Scottish Executive into the costs and benefits of the Scottish
scheme. There is an important piece of research, by Fran Wasoff, Jo Miles and
Enid Mordaunt, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, into Legal Practitioners
Perspectives on the Cohabitation Provisions of the Family Law (Scotland) Act
2006 (2010), to which Lord Hope refers in paragraph 6 above. One message from
that research was that the introduction of broadly similar provisions in England
and Wales would not place significant additional demands on court and legal aid
resources (CRFR research briefing 51).
49.
In September 2011, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice
Mr Jonathan Djanogly made the following announcement (Hansard, HC Deb 6
September 2011 cc15-16WS) :
The findings of the research into the Scottish legislation do not
provide us with a sufficient basis for change in the law. Furthermore,
the family justice system is in a transitional period, with major
reforms already on the horizon. We do not therefore intend to take
forward the Law Commissions recommendations for reform of
cohabitation law in this Parliamentary term.
In the House of Lords, it became clear that the research referred to was the study
by Fran Wasoff and her colleagues. Lord McNally emphasised, however, that
(Hansard, HL Deb, 6 September 2011, c 119):
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The main message to concentrate on is that a significant period of

change is due in the family justice system, which we are using to
consider legislation in general. We have taken the Scottish research
on board, but it is, as I say, rather narrow, very early and not enough
to persuade us that we should implement the Law Commissions
recommendations now.
50.
Responding to the Governments announcement (Law Commission, 6
September 2011), Professor Elizabeth Cooke, the Law Commissioner who leads
the Commissions work in family and property law, said this:
We hope that implementation will not be delayed beyond the early
days of the next Parliament, in view of the hardship and injustice
caused by the current law. The prevalence of cohabitation, and the
birth of children to couples who live together, means that the need
for reform of the law can only become more pressing over time.
As Professor Cooke also pointed out, the existing law is uncertain and expensive
to apply and, because it was not designed for cohabitants, often gives rise to results
that are unjust. The reality is that the sufficient basis for changing the law had
already been amply provided by the long-standing judicial calls for reform (dating
back at least as far as Burns v Burns [1984] Ch 317, at 332); by the Law
Commissions analysis of the deficiencies in the present law and the injustices
which can result; by the demographic trends towards cohabitation and births to
cohabiting couples, which are even more marked south of the border than they are
in the north; and by the widespread belief that cohabiting couples are already
protected by something called common law marriage which has never existed in
the south. There was no need to wait for experience north of the border to make
the case for reform.
51.
The second lesson is that reform needs to cater for a wide variety of
cohabiting relationships which may result in advantage or, more commonly,
disadvantage to one of the parties. There is a tendency to concentrate upon the
younger couples who have children, where one of them suffers financial
disadvantage as a result of having to look after the children both during and after
the relationship. It may be very difficult to say that the other party has derived any
economic advantage from those sacrifices, but it is entirely fair that he should
compensate the childrens carer for the disadvantages that she has suffered. This
case is an example of such disadvantages arising in a completely different context,
but one which is by no means uncommon these days: a mature couple, both of
whom have been married before, each of whom has a home and an income from
pensions or employment, but where one of them gives up her home and at least
some of her income as a result of their living together (an occupational widows
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pension, for example, may well be lost on cohabitation as well as marriage). At the
end of the relationship, one of them may be markedly less well off than she was at
the beginning, whereas the other may be in much the same position as he was
before or even somewhat better off. Such cases should not be forgotten in any
scenario-testing of proposed reforms (although they do not feature in the worked
examples given in Appendix B to the Law Commissions Report). This case also
illustrates the fact, well-established by research, that many, even most, cohabiting
couples have not deliberately rejected marriage (A Barlow, S Duncan, G James
and A Park, Marriage, Cohabitation and the Law, 2005). For many couples, cohabitation is a preliminary to the marriage they hope to enter into one day. In this
case, it is stronger than that: Mrs Gow only agreed to move in with Mr Grant if
they became engaged to be married.
52.
A third lesson from Scotland is that the lack of any definition of
cohabitation, or a qualifying period of cohabitation for couples who do not have
children, has not proved a problem. Very few cases have involved short
relationships and people have not disputed whether or not they have been
cohabitants, although they have sometimes disputed when their cohabitation came
to an end. It might be less productive of disputes for there to be no minimum
qualification period in England and Wales and, equally, for there to be no one year
limitation period from the end of the cohabitation in Scotland (Wasoff et al; see
also J Miles, F Wasoff and E Mordant, Cohabitation: lessons from research north
of the border? (2011) 23 CFLQ 302).
53.
A fourth lesson from Scotland is that the compensation principle, although
attractive in theory, can be difficult to apply in practice because of the problems of
identifying and valuing those advantages and disadvantages. Lord Lesters
Cohabitation Bill, which received a second reading in the House of Lords on 13
March 2009 (see Hansard, HL Deb, 13 March 2008, cc1413-1443), would have
given the courts a much wider discretion to do what was just and equitable
having regard to all the circumstances. The Law Commissions proposals sought to
cut down the problems by focussing on the end of the relationship: on the benefit
retained by one party and on the present and future losses sustained by the other.
The object was to avoid protracted analysis of what may be called water under
the bridge: every past gain and loss over the course of a long relationship,
regardless of whether they have any enduring impact at the point of separation
(see J Miles et al, (2011) 23 CFLQ 302, 316).
54.
This case illustrates the problem very well. It is in most cases quite
impracticable to work out who has paid for what and who has enjoyed what
benefits in kind during the cohabitation. People do not keep such running accounts
and the cost of working things out in detail is quite disproportionate to the task of
doing justice between the parties. Section 28(3)(a) and (9) requires regard to be
had to non-financial contributions; the economic disadvantage to which regard
Page 21

must be had under section 28(3)(b) must be suffered in the interests of the other,
but does not have to amount even to a non-financial contribution. Who can say
whether the non-financial contributions, or the sacrifices, made by one party were
offset by the board and lodging paid for by the other? That is not what living
together in an intimate relationship is all about. It is much more practicable to
consider where they were at the beginning of their cohabitation and where they are
at the end, and then to ask whether either the defender has derived a net economic
advantage from the contributions of the applicant or the applicant has suffered a
net economic disadvantage in the interests of the defender or any relevant child.
There is nothing in the Scottish legislation to preclude such an approach, as the
court is bound to be assessing the respective economic advantage and disadvantage
at the end of their relationship. The English proposals make it rather clearer.
55.
Finally, the case illustrates that it may be unwise to be too prescriptive
about the order which the court should make to redress such advantage or
disadvantage. In principle, if one party has derived a clear and quantifiable
economic benefit from the economic contributions of the other, it may be fair to
order what is, in effect, restitution of the value of that benefit. But sometimes the
benefit will result from non-financial contributions or be very hard to quantify.
Even more problematic are the cases where there is identifiable economic
disadvantage, as here, without a corresponding economic advantage. In some
cases, it may be entirely fair to expect the better-off partner to compensate the
other in full for the losses she has sustained as a result of their relationship: as, for
example, where a rich widower persuades a widow to give up her secure tenancy
and widows pension to move in with him and can well afford to put her back in
the position in which she was before their cohabitation began. In others, this may
be impossible or quite unfair. Thus, it seems to me, the flexibility inherent in the
Scottish provisions is preferable to the Law Commissions proposal that the losses
should be shared between them. On the other hand, the Law Commissions
proposed list of factors to be taken into account in the exercise of the courts
discretion might be a useful addition to the Scottish law, as also might the power to
make a periodical payments order in those rare cases where it is not practicable to
make an order that a capital sum be paid by instalments.
56.
The main lesson from this case, as also from the research so far, is that a
remedy such as this is both practicable and fair. It does not impose upon unmarried
couples the responsibilities of marriage but redresses the gains and losses flowing
from their relationship. As the researchers comment, The Act has undoubtedly
achieved a lot for Scottish cohabitants and their children. English and Welsh
cohabitants and their children deserve no less.

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