APPLICATION OF THE EQUITABLE DOCTRINE OF CONVERSION AND DUTY TO CONVERT: ARE THEY MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE OR INCLUSIVE?

Abstract

The doctrine of conversion is where there is a duty imposed on a person to either purchase or sell real property. In either case, the property is converted to the form the property will take if the obligation is fulfilled notwithstanding the fact that the property has not actually been purchased or sold. However, there is a misconception of the doctrine of conversion as a result of which the trustee?s duty to convert under a rule in Howe vs. Earl of Dartmouth is treated as application of doctrine of conversion. The article utilised doctrinal research method to examine the doctrine of conversion with the objective of determining whether conversion extends to the rule in Howe v. Earl ofDartmouth. The research question is thus, „is the trustee?s duty to convert wasting assets under the rule in Howe v. Earl of Dartmouth covered by the doctrine of conversion?? This article found that there is an overlap between the doctrine of conversion and the trustee?s duty to convert which has resulted to misapplication of the doctrine of conversion. They are as exclusive as they are inclusive. In view of the finding, it was argued that the duty to covert wasting assets enunciated in the rule in Howe v. Earl of Dartmouth is not covered by the doctrine of conversion. Although both the doctrine and the duty to convert involve conversion, the doctrine of conversion and the rule in Howe v. Earl of Dartmouth apply to real and residual personal property respectively.