CULLEN V CULLEN (1962)
If a licensor leads a licencee to believe that they will acquire an interest in the property and the licensee then acts on the basis of this to his detriment, the licence already enjoyed maybe strengthened by the attachment of an equitable element that can make the licence a more permanent and sometimes a proprietary right.
John Cullen was a business man and farmer. He suffered from paranoia and was convinced his family were going to have him committed. He told his wife that he would sign his property over to her. His wife then won a mobile home which she gave to her son. John Cullen gave permission to his son to erect the mobile home on his land as he intended to sign it over to his wife anyway. |Based on this representation Martin Cullen spent a lot of money on preparing the foundations and plumbing etc. Soon after John Cullen wrote to his wife and son through a solicitor instructing them to vacate the premises and cease involvement in his business. The son claimed that he was entitled to ownership on the basis of estoppel. The result of the solicitors letter was that Martins licence was revoked but the law of equity restricted the revokation of the licence based on the representation made. John Cullen ws estopped from asserting his title over the land because of the promise he had made to his son, that he could place his mobile home there and reside there for as long as he wished. The son then spent a considerable sum on the property which he otherwise would ot have spent