Plural Ownership is a thorough and thought-provoking analysis focussing on the principles underlying two areas of property law: concurrent ownership (in particular severance of joint tenancies) and successive ownership, and examines how they shade into each other.
Smith first considers the range of rights recognised by the law and the ways in which these rights operate. The book then moves on to survey the regulation of these rights, principally by statute, providing a detailed examination of the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996, and exploring the principles behind the Act. He provides an in-depth investigation of this legislation and the ways in which it relates to earlier principles and authorities.