Siu v Li

The case of Siu v Li involved a dispute between the plaintiff and the defendant regarding the payment of the full purchase price for a new home. The plaintiff had paid the full purchase price, but the defendant had only paid a partial amount from the proceeds of the sale of their old home. The plaintiff claimed that the defendant still owed a significant balance, while the defendant argued that the payment had discharged the debt. The parties reached an agreement witnessed by several church members and signed a statutory declaration. The agreement stated that the plaintiff would receive 48.84% of the proceeds from the sale of the defendant's new home and the defendant would receive the balance. The agreement did not give the plaintiff an interest in the property.

The court had to decide whether the moneys paid by the plaintiff to the defendant were loans or gifts. The plaintiff argued that every payment was by way of a loan, while the defendant claimed that the payments were made voluntarily by the plaintiff as gifts towards the establishment of a home church in rural China. The court also had to determine whether the parties were in a close personal relationship for the purposes of the Property (Relationships) Act 1984, and whether the arrangement for free accommodation in return for non-payment of the purchase price of the home was a reward under the Act.

The court found that the parties were in a close personal relationship for the purposes of the Act. The court also found that the arrangement for free accommodation in return for non-payment of the purchase price of the home was a reward under the Act. The court held that the plaintiff was entitled to receive 48.84% of the proceeds from the sale of the defendant's new home. The court did not find it necessary to determine whether the payments made by the plaintiff to the defendant were loans or gifts. The court made an order that the parties were to agree on appropriate orders to bring about a sale of the new home and that the plaintiff was to receive 48.84% of the proceeds.