Equity & Trusts
10. Equitable Actions & Relief
Authors: Staff Legal Eagle
Firm / Chambers:
Last updated: 25 Jul 2015
- The kinds of legal and statutory rights that can give rise to actions in equity include:
- disputes relating to contract law such as where a contract is unenforceable at common law but obligations have been performed under it;
- disputes arising under trusts including the breach of obligations by a trustee;
- issues arising from property law such as:
- co-ownership problems;
- easements and covenants;
- mortgages and guarantees; and
- the exercise of options;
- company law such as duties of directors and other obligations arising from the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth);
- disputes about wills and estates including the responsibilities of executors; and
- family provision claims.
- The types of relief most often sought from judges acting in equity include:
- an order for specific performance where someone is ordered to complete their obligations under a contract or agreement even if that contract or agreement is otherwise legally unenforceable;
- an injunction which is an order of the court restraining a party from doing something that is unconscionable (against good conscience);
- an equitable estoppel such as preventing a party from insisting on enforcing their legal rights where it would be unconscionable for them to do so due to representations they have made or assumptions that they have knowingly or recklessly allowed the other party to act upon;
- an order for taking of accounts where a beneficiary disputes the actions of a trustee;
- the preservation or division of property according to equitable rather than legal interests; and
- Mareva injunctions that prevent a party to a civil litigation from disposing of assets that may be required to pay an award of damages if the other party is successful.
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