Alvin Cuffy v Joy Cuffy (Aka Joy Goodridge)

• Jurisdiction: St Vincent and the Grenadines
• Judge: Roberts, J.
• Judgment Date: 30 May 2018
• Neutral Citation: VC 2018 HC 30
• Date: 30 May 2018
• Court: High Court (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines)
• Docket Number: CLAIM NO. SVGHCV 2010/0089

EASTERN CARIBBEAN SUPREME COURT

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE

(CIVIL)

Roberts, J. (Ag.)

CLAIM NO. SVGHCV 2010/0089

Between

Alvin Cuffy (Administrator of The Estate of Ermine Cuffy, Deceased Acting Herein by His Duly Constituted Attorney on Record Gloria Miller)

Claimant

and

JOY CUFFY (Aka JOY GOODRIDGE)

Defendant

Appearances

Mr Parnell Campbell, QC with him Ms Mandella Campbell for the Claimant

Mr Emery Robertson for the Defendant

Real property — Adverse possession — Whether a co-beneficiary could establish adverse possession rights over another co-beneficiary — Possessory title — Whether challenge could be made to declaration of possessory title obtained without objection.

1 Roberts, J. [Ag.]: In a fixed date claim form filed on 3 ^rd August 2010, the claimant, Alvin Cuffy, administrator of the estate of Ermine Cuffy, deceased, claimed against the defendant, Joy Cuffy aka Joy Goodridge of South Rivers, an order that the claimant was entitled to possession of the property situate at South Rivers, the subject matter of Grant Number 147 of 2009. The claimant also sought an order that the defendant give up possession of the property; pay to the claimant the rents collected from the Government of St Vincent and the Grenadines for the use and occupation of space in the building used as a post office; an injunction to restrain the defendant whether by herself, her servants or agents from remaining in the premises, and costs.

2 In his statement of claim the claimant related that Gloria Miller was appointed the attorney of Alvin Cuffy by a power of attorney dated 5 ^th November 2009 and registered as Number 300 of 2009. Ermine Cuffy died intestate on 18 ^th February 1996 and letters of administration of her estate were granted to the claimant on 20 ^th August 2009 (No 147 of 2009).

3 The claim is that Ermine Cuffy became the owner of the parcel of land by virtue of a deed of assent registered as deed number 3255 of 1988. There was a two storey building on the land. The upper storey of the building was occupied by the defendant and the lower storey was rented to the Government of St Vincent and the Grenadines to house the South Rivers Post Office. On 24 ^th November 2009 the defendant was given a notice to quit by 28 ^th February 2010. She was also asked to account to the claimant for the rent collected from the Government for the use of the post office. At the time of the claim the defendant was still occupying the premises and she had not accounted for the rent.

4 In her defence, Joy Cuffy denied that the claimant was entitled to possession of the property situate at South Rivers, the subject matter of Grant number 147 of 2009, and consequently he was not entitled to an order for possession of the land. The defendant also denied that the claimant was entitled to collect any rents from the Government of St Vincent and the Grenadines for the use and occupation of space in her building since she was the lawful owner of the building. The defendant stated that she had been renting the building to the Government and as a consequence she was not liable to account to the claimant for moneys received for the rental of the premises.

5 The defendant denied that the claimant was entitled to any relief by way of injunction or otherwise as she was lawfully in possession of same for the statutory period in excess of 12 years. She stated that by virtue of the Limitation Act and the Possessory Titles Act, she was granted a title thereto being registered as Deed No 527 of 2009. The title deed was obtained following the Possessory Titles Act No 38 of 2004 in Suit No 11 of 2008 and was granted by order of the High Court on the 3 ^rd November 2008 before Honourable Justice Monica Joseph sitting in Chambers.

6 The defendant stated,

“In answer to paragraph 2 of the statement of claim that the original owner of the land was Benjamin Goodridge who gave the land to Ermine Cuffy, his niece, Ermine Cuffy later gave the land to Alwyn Cuffy who later gave it to Selwyn Cuffy. Selwyn Cuffy and I built up the property and lived there until his death and I made a title for the property. No title deeds were ever made in respect of the said property to the best of my knowledge but my deceased husband Selwyn Cuffy who is a brother of both Alvin and Alwyn Cuffy occupied the property exclusively and collected the rent from the Government for the use of the post office”.

7 The defendant denied the “legal efficacy” of the grant of letters of administration of the estate of Ermine Cuffy since under the Possessory Titles Act No 38 of 2004 she “obtained a title thereto since 3 ^rd November 2008 prior in time to Grant No 147 of 2009…”. The defendant asserted that she had a “good, valid and lawful title to the said hereditaments for 3,125 square feet of land described as:

“All that lot piece or parcel of land situate at South Rivers 3,125 sq. ft of land and butted and bounded on the North by the Main Road (Public Road) on the South by lands of Glenda Williams, on the East by an existing concrete access road and on the West by lands of Mollie Spencer and more particularly set out in a plan drawn by Keith Francis Licensed Land Surveyor which was approved and lodged at the Land and Survey Office on the 12 ^th February 2008 under C17/11”.

The defendant reiterated that she and her husband, Selwyn Cuffy built the dwelling house on the premises.

8 In his reply the claimant denied that the subject building was built by the defendant but rather he asserted that it was built by her husband, Selwyn Cuffy, with funds provided by the children of the deceased, Ermine Cuffy, all of whom resided out of St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Written Submissions

9 The claimant submitted that the case raised “two fundamental and profound issues of law”, namely:

• 1. “In what circumstances, if any, can one co-beneficiary establish adverse possessory rights over a parcel of land in St Vincent and the Grenadines against another co-beneficiary so as to extinguish the rights of the latter mentioned co-beneficiary in favour of the former mentioned co-beneficiary under the Limitation Act Cap 129 of 2009.

• 2. In what circumstances, if any, can a challenge made in proceedings launched on 3 ^rd March 2010 succeed against a declaration of Possessory Title issued by the High Court on 23 ^rd January 2009, where the said Declaration of Possessory Title had been obtained without any opposition under the Possessory Titles Act Cap 328 of 2009.”

10 The claimant submitted that, “the defendant as the widow of the co-beneficiary Selwyn Cuffy, herself became in her own right a co-beneficiary of estate of Ermine Cuffy”. The submission, was that one co-beneficiary cannot claim adverse possession against another co-beneficiary in respect of the same property which forms part of the corpus of the estate of the intestate in question. In order to relate it to this case the claimant submitted that “… no co-beneficiary of the Estate of Ermine Cuffy Deceased could set up or rely on adverse possession as...