Sullivan v. Murphy

Introduction

This is an action brought by the plaintiff to establish her ownership rights in a piece of residential property. The defendants are her daughter and her daughter’s former husband. The factual background of the case is as follows.

In 1978, the defendants, who had not yet married, purchased a two-family home, in Lynn, as joint tenants. At that time, the plaintiff sold her own home and, it is alleged, contributed the proceeds of the sale to the purchase of the two-family home, in exchange for a promise that she be permitted to occupy one floor of the home rent-free for life. Both the…