Court Upholds Gift of Farmland by Employee to Employer

Personal Solicitors Suffolk – Court upholds gift of farmland by employee to employer

‘A farmworker had inherited two agricultural holdings adjoining his employers’ land and gave these to his employers, whom he regarded as his family. At the time of the gift, the farmworker was 70 and depended on his employers for accommodation, food and transport.

When he died, the employee’s next of kin tried to overturn these gifts.

However, the Court upheld the gift and ruled that: there had been no undue influence from the employers who were ‘thoroughly decent people’; and the farmworker had made the gifts because of family bond and because he wanted the holdings to remain with farmers. Helpfully, the worker had taken some independent legal advice which supported the employers’ defence.’