ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how a person may establish how the doctrine of estoppel applies to the situation they find themselves in, when an estoppel has arisen what types of rights and interests a court may order to satisfy it, and what the implications are for third parties. It explains the meaning of proprietary estoppel. The chapter identifies the elements for establishing a claim, namely: a representation, detrimental reliance and unconscionability. It reviews the range of remedies a court may grant to satisfy the equity and considers the implications of an equity before it is satisfied for purchasers. A court in considering how to satisfy the estoppel, may give a remedy which enforces a property right, hence the term 'proprietary' estoppel. Proprietary estoppel is a means of protecting a person's right over land which, though not created as a formal property right or agreed by contract, it would be inequitable or unconscionable for the landowner to deny.
