Adrienne and Bertrand are the parents of three children: Cordelia, Donald and Esmerelda. Adrienne and Bertrand own a house which is unregistered. Unfortunately, Adrienne and Bertrand were killed when their car collided with a tree. Their wills reveal that they had negotiated an arrangement with their friend, Fatima, to hold the house on behalf of the children. Fatima is keen to ‘do the right thing’ by Adrienne and Bertrand and approaches you with the following issues:

i) A neighbour, George, claims Adrienne and Bertrand gave him the right to purchase the house within the next five years. He wishes to exercise this right.

ii) Cordelia is the oldest of the three children and intends to leave home in a few months’ time to attend university. She has asked Fatima to ‘sell her part of the house’ in order to fund her University expenses. Donald, who is 11, has mobility requirements and worries that this might lead to selling the property which has been modified for his particular access requirements.

iii) Fatima answers the door to Harriet. Harriet insists that she was given a legal lease of 10 years to store her items in the garden shed. She complains that “Adrienne and Bertrand haven’t protected this right – and now you will probably stop me from its exercise!”