ABSTRACT
The decision of the House of Lords in Gissing v Gissing (1971) created the possibility for looking behind the formal arrangements between the parties to uncover their informal, common intention rather than considering other aspects of their relationship, such issues being typically relied upon by family lawyers (such as the need to consider the welfare of children). It was held that this common intention ought to be the element which is decisive of the division of equitable interests between them.
