What are the implications of a common-law partner’s claim in equity for the sale of their jointly-held land?

The wife’s claims in equity are somewhat unusual. Most claims of this nature, and most of the leading cases considering same (including the recent Kerr v. Baranow, 2011 SCC 10), involve common-law partners with no statutory family property rights. The wife seeks relief in equity because the jointly-held land increased significantly in value in the four years between the couple’s separation and the sale of the land.

In Kerr v. Baranow, Cromwell J., referring to Peel (Regional Municipality) v. Canada, 1992 CanLII 21 (SCC), [1992] 3 S.C.R. 762 (at page 788), stated: At the heart of the doctrine of unjust enrichment lies the notion of restoring a benefit which justice does not permit one to retain…something must have been given by the plaintiff and received and retained by the defendant without juristic reason.… (Paragraph 31)