Sibling Rivalry: Brother Wins Bitter Battle Over Family Home
One brother held the title, while the other built the house and called it home for more than three decades. Today, the Caribbean Court of Justice settled that bitter family dispute in favor of Ewart Robateau, overturning rulings from Belize’s lower courts and recognizing his right to remain on the property for life. The judges found that Ewart invested his own money and labor after relying on a promise from his mother, who later transferred the land to his brother, Allan Robateau. The CCJ ruled that Allen cannot now use his legal ownership to evict Ewart from the home where he raised his family.
Justice Denys Barrow, Caribbean Court of Justice
“The Court of Appeal upheld that decision which had concluded that the appellant was a mere licensee of the property The Caribbean Court of Justice, hereafter the CCJ or the Court, allowed the appeal, finding that both lower courts had materially erred in their evaluation of the evidence and were plainly wrong. The CCG held that the absence of receipts, invoices, or other financial documentation did not undermine the uncontradicted fact that the appellant had built and paid for the house. His decades-long open occupation, coupled with the circumstances in which the house was constructed, provided substantial objective evidence supporting his account of the arrangement with the mother. The opinion concluded that the requirements of proprietary estoppel were satisfied. It would therefore be unconscionable to permit the respondent who had acquired title with knowledge of the appellant’s longstanding occupation and claim to eject him.”
The Caribbean Court of Justice set aside the order requiring Ewart Robateau to leave the property and affirmed his life interest in the home he built on the land. Allen Robateau was represented by attorneys Michelle Trapp and Emertice Anderson. His sibling was represented by attorney Matthew Morris.
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