Balfour vs Balfour
Reference : [1919] 2 KB 571
Jurisdiction : England
Plaintiff : Mrs. Balfour
Defendant : Mr. Balfour
Facts :
Mr. and Mrs. Balfour, a married couple from Ceylon (Present Sri Lanka), went on vacation to England in 1915. During the trip Mrs. Balfour fell ill and needed urgent medical care. So, Mr. Balfour and Mrs. Balfour agreed that Mrs. Balfour would stay in England until she fully recovered. On the other hand, Mr. Balfour returned to Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Mr. Balfour promised to pay her £30 per month for maintenance until his wife, Mrs. Balfour rejoined him. However, as their relationship deteriorated, Mr. Balfour stopped sending the above-mentioned payments. Eventually, Mr. Balfour wrote to his wife, proposing a permanent separation, and later they made a legal divorce. Later on, Mrs. Balfour bring allegation for non-payment of the promised maintenance against her ex-husband Mr. Balfour.
Issues :
1. The promise of Mr. Balfour constituted a binding contract or not?
2. Was the agreement between Mr. and Mrs. Balfour legally enforceable?
Decisions :
In the first trial of this case in lower court, Justice Sargant held the decree in favor of Mrs. Balfour and ordered that Mr. Balfour must pay the promised maintenance. Mr. Balfour appealed that decision to the Court of Appeal.
The appellate bench, consisting of Warrington LJ, Duke LJ, and Atkin LJ, found that the agreement is not enforceable in the court of law. Atkin LJ observed that the agreement lacked the intention to create a legal relation due to its domestic nature. Warrington LJ and Duke LJ questioned whether Mrs. Balfour provided valid consideration or not. Atkin LJ emphasized that the doctrine of intention to create legal relations was tied to public policy.
The judges concluded that courts should not intervene in personal family agreements. As a result, Mrs. Balfour’s claim was dismissed.
This case has often been seen in conjunction with Merritt vs. Merritt (1970). In this case, though the couple was married but they already had an estranged relationship, when the agreement was made. So, in this scenario, any sort of agreement between them was to be considered that of legal in nature.
On the other hand, in the Balfour v Balfour case, Mr. Balfour’s promise to Mrs. Balfour did not amount to a contract.
Author :
1. Shahed Jaman
Note : The Case Summary is a platform by the law students, for the law students. We aim to summarize the facts and decisions of various important cases in both Bangla and English with utmost caution. However, this platform is in no way a replacement for going through the complete judgements by the law students and we discourage any learner from relying on case summaries alone. Thank you
