ABSTRACT
Introduction Normally precise ownership of property belonging to a married couple, whether that property is the home itself, chattels used in their home or other property in the nature of an investment, is of no particular interest in divorce, since pursuant to MCA 1973 s 24 the court has a wide power to effect whatever adjustments it perceives to be necessary by making a property transfer order. However there are occasions when proprietary rights are important, eg because the parties are not divorcing, so that the s 24 jurisdiction is not being invoked. The jurisdiction which will then be that of the Married Women’s Property Act (MWPA) 1882 s 17 as amended, which is confined to establishing strict property rights, allowing no s 24 discretion.
