Carter v Hyde

The parties to this appeal were William Carter (the appellant) and Susan Letitia Hyde and Violet May Delaney (the respondents), who were the executrices of the will of George Hyde. The dispute concerned an option granted by Carter to George Hyde to purchase the lease, licence, furniture, and goodwill of a hotel. The High Court of Australia heard the appeal from a decision of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

The legal issues before the court were: first, whether the option, granted for valuable consideration, could be exercised by the personal representatives of George Hyde after his death; second, whether the purported exercise of the option by the executrices constituted an unconditional acceptance of the offer; and third, whether the respondents were barred from seeking specific performance due to laches.

The court reasoned that the option, being for valuable consideration and not being personal in nature or expressly limited to the life of the offeror, constituted a proprietary right that passed to the personal representatives upon George Hyde's death. The court found that the executrices' letter of acceptance, despite a reference to an inventory dated the same day, was an unconditional acceptance of the option as granted. Furthermore, the court determined that the delay in commencing proceedings was not so unreasonable as to constitute laches, particularly given the intervening negotiations and the equitable principles governing such defences.

The High Court dismissed the appeal, affirming the decision of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The court ordered that the contract constituted by the option and its acceptance ought to be performed, and thus specific performance was granted to the respondents.