Della Vallery Nolan nee Jude and another v Vandyke Jude
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Judge | Lord Burrows,Burrows |
| Judgment Date | 25 July 2024 |
| Neutral Citation | [2024] UKPC 22 |
| Court | Privy Council |
| Docket Number | Privy Council Appeal No 0100 of 2022 |
[2024] UKPC 22
Lord Hodge
Lord Briggs
Lord Burrows
Lady Rose
Lord Richards
Privy Council Appeal No 0100 of 2022
Privy Council
Trinity Term
From the Court of Appeal of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (St Lucia)
Appellant
Robert Strang
(Instructed by BDB Pitmans LLP (London))
Respondent
Maureen John-Xavier
(Instructed by Parker Harrison Solicitors (London))
Heard on 11 June 2024
Between 1977 and his death in September 2007, Austin Jude and his company Austinsheil Properties Ltd (“Austinsheil”) owned or part-owned numerous parcels of land in the Marigot Bay area of St Lucia. Prior to, and especially since, his death, several of his children (and, without intending any disrespect, I shall refer to all the members of the Jude family by their first names) have been engaged in acrimonious disputes as to their respective entitlements to those parcels of land. On the one side in this appeal stands the appellant, Vandyke, who primarily resides in California where he practices as a lawyer. He is supported by his sister, Diane, who was given a power of attorney by Austin on 7 June 2005. Both Vandyke and Diane were the defendants at the trial in this case. On the other side are the respondents (and claimants), Della and Beverley, who are sisters of Vandyke and Diane. There is another sister, Yasmin, and a half-brother, Cletus, who are not parties to these proceedings. Austin's widow, Sheila, is also not a party.
In the years before he died, and largely acting through Diane exercising the power of attorney he had given her, Austin transferred various parcels of land to members of the family, especially Vandyke. The claimants have sought to impugn the transfers to Vandyke and, in particular, have submitted that they were obtained by undue influence exercised by Vandyke and Diane over Austin.
Their various challenges, including the claim based on undue influence, were all dismissed by the trial judge, Godfrey Smith J. He was impressed by Vandyke and Diane as witnesses describing Vandyke as honest, direct, and very credible and Diane as honest, credible, open and candid. However, his decision was overturned in part by the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal: that is, it overturned the trial judge's dismissal of the undue influence claims against Vandyke in respect of transfers effected by two deeds executed on 23 July 2007 (the “July 2007 deeds”). Vandyke now appeals to the Board against the Court of Appeal's decision regarding those July 2007 deeds.
It should be made clear at the outset, and the parties were agreed on this, that the law of St Lucia on undue influence is the same as in England and Wales. See, eg, Murray v Deubery (1996) 52 WIR 147.
On this appeal, the Board is concerned only with the transfers of parcels of land effected by the July 2007 deeds and not with other land transfers by Austin to Vandyke and other family members. Nevertheless, in order to understand the July 2007 deeds, it is necessary to provide a brief summary of the general factual background.
The story starts when Austin and his long-time business associate and lawyer, Kenneth Monplaisir (“Monplaisir”) acquired lands on both the South Shore and the North Shore of Marigot Bay in 1977. Monplaisir acquired the sole legal title to the lands but he and Austin agreed that they shared the beneficial ownership equally because Austin contributed towards the purchases. In 1984, they partitioned some of the lands on the South Shore between themselves, each taking title to 23 parcels of land (ie Monplaisir transferred legal title to 23 parcels to Austin). Austin set up a company, Austinsheil, to which he transferred the legal title to those 23 parcels of land. Even after that partition, Monplaisir continued to retain legal title to a large number of parcels of land in which Austin had a share of the beneficial ownership. Austin's interest in the remainder of the unpartitioned lands was protected by a registered restriction requiring the consent of Austin to all dealings by Monplaisir with the unpartitioned lands.
In 1997 Austin and Sheila went through a bitter divorce. Austin was legally represented by Monplaisir in the divorce proceedings. Those proceedings were eventually determined by the Court of Appeal on 30 October 2002. Sheila was declared to be beneficially entitled to 10 parcels of her choosing among the land on the South Shore owned by Austinsheil; and Austin and Sheila were each held entitled to a 25% share of land jointly owned by Monplaisir and Austin on the North Shore (block number 0444B parcel 4). So after the divorce, Austin and Sheila each had a 25% share in that North Shore land (ie approximately 4 acres each of the approximately 16 acres that comprised parcel 4).
In 2005, Austin, who had become ill, and Sheila overcame their differences and remarried. This was all at a time when there remained unresolved issues as regards Austinsheil, and lands held in its name, and as regards lands jointly owned by Austin and Monplaisir but registered in the sole name of Monplaisir. As a result of his illness, Austin considered that he needed help to manage his affairs and, in particular, to resolve disputes that had arisen between him and Monplaisir.
Up until this time, Vandyke and Austin had had a hostile relationship. In 1997, during the crisis which resulted in Austin and Sheila's divorce, Vandyke had taken his mother's side. Father and son even came to physical blows leaving both requiring medical treatment. Austin and Vandyke did not speak to each other for nearly eight years from 1997 to early 2005.
In 2005, at Sheila's request, Vandyke came to St Lucia from California to see Austin. Austin asked Vandyke to negotiate with Monplaisir on his behalf, in order to partition and share out the remainder of lands that he owned jointly with Monplaisir. Vandyke imposed certain conditions before he would help Austin, to which Austin agreed. They were:
(i) That Austin grant a power of attorney to Diane.
(ii) That Austin's interest in parcels 48, 56 and 103 be transferred to Sheila or one of Austin's daughters. After some discussion Austin proposed their transfer to Diane and Sheila and Vandyke agreed. Parcel 48 is the plot of land containing the matrimonial home of Austin and Sheila and is where Sheila continues to live.
(iii) That Austin comply with the Court of Appeal's orders in the divorce ie that he should transfer to Sheila 10 parcels of the South Shore lands (from Austinshiel), and 4 acres of the North Shore land.
(iv) That Austin cease blocking Vandyke's purchase of parcels 147 and 148 from Monplaisir, who regarded those parcels as his sole property.
(v) That Austin's share in parcel 157 be given to Vandyke in lieu of payment for acting on Austin's behalf in the negotiations with Monplaisir.
Austin complied with those conditions including executing a power of attorney in favour of Diane (on 7 June 2005). As a consequence, Vandyke went ahead with the negotiations with Monplaisir. These extended over several months but were concluded in February 2006. On 23 August 2006, Monplaisir, Vandyke and Diane (acting under the power of attorney given her by Austin) signed the two July 2007 deeds of transfer. They were finally executed by a notary, Clarence Rambally, on 23 July 2007. The first was registered on 19 November 2007 and the second on 30 July 2008.
In March 2007, Austin travelled from St Lucia to London for medical treatment. On 20 April 2007 Della sent by email to her siblings a letter, dated 18 April 2007, which was said to have been dictated to her by Austin, while he was under her care in London, in which, among other things, Austin purported to revoke Diane's power of attorney. Diane replied by a letter dated 21 April 2007 disputing the accuracy of Della's letter and implying that Della had concocted its contents. According to Diane's witness statement, when Austin was later confronted with the idea (which Della had told hospital staff) that he had given Della a power of attorney, he very clearly denied it; and Della had tried to stop Austin returning to St Lucia and had taken away his passport which was only returned the day before he was due to fly back. On 20 July 2007 Austin returned from London to St Lucia with Sheila. The two deeds that lie at the heart of this appeal were then executed on 23 July 2007. According to the notary, Clarence Rambally, their contents had been confirmed by Austin on his return from London. Austin died on 27 September 2007.
Each of the two July 2007 deeds transferred various parcels of land, or an undivided half share in various parcels of land, from Monplaisir to Austin who in turn transferred them to Vandyke. Each deed recorded that Austin was represented by Diane exercising her power of attorney.
Under the first of the July 2007 deeds, registered as 6670/2007, the following 13 parcels (all on the South Shore in block 0443B) were transferred to Vandyke: 41, 45, 46, 47, 55, 122, 138, 160, 162, 163, 177, 211 and 223.
Under the second of the July 2007 deeds, registered as 4224/2008, an undivided half share in parcels 51 and 52 (on the South Shore) and in parcel 4 in block 0444B (on the North Shore) was transferred to Vandyke.
Although each of the two deeds specified that the parcels were being transferred from Austin to Vandyke “in the sum of Seventy-Five Thousand Dollars ($75,000)” it was not in dispute that that sum did not represent the value of the lands and it was not envisaged that, in practice, any payment was to be made by Vandyke to Austin for the transfers. At the appeal before us it was suggested by counsel that a possible explanation for the inclusion of that...
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