Common Law

Case 3
Jim and Belinda frequently exhibit their rare stamps and antique collection to promote their business. Belinda asks one of her sisters, Nicky who is looking for a job to organise and exhibit their collection. Belinda is overjoyed with Nicky’s performance and she does not want Nicky to stop helping her. A couple of months later, Nicky receives a good job offer from the National Philatelic Gallery. Belinda tells Nicky that if she stays to work for her until the end of the current exhibition, she will “give her some of the rarest stamps in her collection that are worth a lot of money”. Nicky agrees to give up her good job, so Belinda asks her lawyer to record her promise in a written agreement. A month after the exhibition has ended, Belinda refuses to hand over the rarest stamps to Nicky and she tells Nicky that agreements between family members are not binding.
Can Nicky enforce the agreement against her sister, Belinda? (5 marks)

Solution: