Is a marriage breakdown required for a constructive trust claim?
Ontario, Canada
The following excerpt is from Elkaim v. Markina, 2010 CanLII 100048 (ON SC):
A marriage breakdown is not required for a constructive trust claim, which, technically speaking, arises once the elements for an unjust enrichment have been satisfied. Those elements are (1) an enrichment; (2) a corresponding deprivation; and (3) the absence of any juristic reason for the enrichment. The fact that a party's actions have benefited another is not enough; it must also be "evident that the retention of the benefit would be 'unjust' in the circumstances of the case": Pettkus v. Becker, 1980 CanLII 22 (SCC), [1980] 2 S.C.R. 834, [1980] S.C.J. No. 103.
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