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Help! What is equity?

Hi

How would you go about answering this question? "What is equity"?

I've tried searching for articles and can't find anything, all the information is in textbooks but that is not adequate. And also the textbooks contain a lot on the history and development of equity but that's also not sufficient to answer the question.

Any help will be appreciated, thanks in advance!
Try Alistair Hudson's work, he bloody loves that question. The history and development of equity are relevant to the question I would say.
A percentage of ownership.
Original post by mikeyd85
A percentage of ownership.

This is perhaps the simpliest answer you're going to get OP.
Reply 4
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Flexa
14
Define: Equity

'the value of the shares issued by a company'
Reply 5
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Sazzy890
18
People here are thinking of the wrong kind of equity.

Equity is a set of legal principles that developed to try to mitigate the rigours of the common law (this is the common way of putting it) because sometimes the common law's strict rules led to unjust results. For example, promissory estoppel was established to stop someone from saying "there was no consideration so it's not a contract" to get out of a promise they had made and the other party had unjustly relied upon to their detriment. Whilst the common law would just say "well it's not a contract because there was no consideration so you need to bear the loss now" and the innocent party would essentially not be entitled to any remedy.

The history is definitely relevant to the question OP!
(edited 10 years ago)
What is equity?

When you first start out studying law, the concept of equity is tough to get your head around. It is however, essential to figure it out because all Anglo Welsh Property Law relies upon the concept.

You've just got to do a bit more reading, maybe a chapter about Co-ownership in Land Law as a good start.

Look at the 'maxims of equity'. You could wikipedia it (but its not that clear - and don't ever admit to your lecturers that you used Wikipedia)
Try the more basic books or revision guides, they are a good start but will need fleshing out with the doorstop textbooks.

You could try the search term "unconscionability case law trusts" there is a free chapter from the Pearson Ed catalogue. Have a read.
Sorry I can't help more, you just have to get stuck in and keep reading till you brain begins to unscramble. It will...eventually!

AR
Reply 7
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Clip
19
It's another set of legal principles to supplement the common law. It prevails over the common law when they clash, but it is much more conditional than the common law, being subject to the "maxims".
Reply 8
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utr
18
The most common example I can think of, which may or may not answer your question, is:

If a house costs £100,000 and you have a £90,000 mortgage; there is 10% available equity.

Does this help?
Reply 9
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Clip
19
Original post by utr
The most common example I can think of, which may or may not answer your question, is:

If a house costs £100,000 and you have a £90,000 mortgage; there is 10% available equity.

Does this help?


You're really not reading the above. This isn't in the home ownership forum, it's in the Law forum. It's the difference between a crane the bird and a mechanical crane.
Reply 10
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utr
18
Original post by Clip
You're really not reading the above. This isn't in the home ownership forum, it's in the Law forum. It's the difference between a crane the bird and a mechanical crane.


Ah, just saw the opening question and the percentage of ownership response. My answer is withdrawn.
Reply 11
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zjuer
Original post by Sazzy890
People here are thinking of the wrong kind of equity.

Equity is a set of legal principles that developed to try to mitigate the rigours of the common law (this is the common way of putting it) because sometimes the common law's strict rules led to unjust results. For example, promissory estoppel was established to stop someone from saying "there was no consideration so it's not a contract" to get out of a promise they had made and the other party had unjustly relied upon to their detriment. Whilst the common law would just say "well it's not a contract because there was no consideration so you need to bear the loss now" and the innocent party would essentially not be entitled to any remedy.

The history is definitely relevant to the question OP!

This guy knows it exactly~(there should be applause)
Original post by Sazzy890


Equity is a set of legal principles that developed to try to mitigate the rigours of the common law (this is the common way of putting it) because sometimes the common law's strict rules led to unjust results. For example, promissory estoppel was established to stop someone from saying "there was no consideration so it's not a contract" to get out of a promise they had made and the other party had unjustly relied upon to their detriment. Whilst the common law would just say "well it's not a contract because there was no consideration so you need to bear the loss now" and the innocent party would essentially not be entitled to any remedy.

The history is definitely relevant to the question OP!




Original post by zjuer
This guy knows it exactly~(there should be applause)


What is a tank?

A tank is a weapon created to break the stalemate of trench warfare.

For example the Chieftain was created to have the same firepower as the Soviet IS series with the manoeuvrability of a medium tank.

Military history is definitely relevant to the question "what is a tank?"


So is this a tank?

Reply 13
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Sazzy890
18
Original post by nulli tertius
What is a tank?



So is this a tank?



That's a silly comparison because the only way to describe equity is through the history, it cannot be described in one sentence like, perhaps a tank could. Equity literally is just a set of legal principles (essentially a new legal system in itself) that developed over time, so you need to refer to the history to explain equity. Maxims and unconscionability is something that the OP will need to be specifically referring to in their essay, and they can cross-reference to things like promissory estoppel.
Original post by Sazzy890
That's a silly comparison because the only way to describe equity is through the history, it cannot be described in one sentence like, perhaps a tank could. Equity literally is just a set of legal principles (essentially a new legal system in itself) that developed over time, so you need to refer to the history to explain equity. Maxims and unconscionability is something that the OP will need to be specifically referring to in their essay, and they can cross-reference to things like promissory estoppel.


You may need to refer to history to explain how something arose, but referring to how something arose does not of itself explain what it is. The question was to say what equity i and that requires at least an attempt at analysis. The posting above is a better attempt at doing this than your previous one.
Reply 15
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Sazzy890
18
Original post by nulli tertius
You may need to refer to history to explain how something arose, but referring to how something arose does not of itself explain what it is. The question was to say what equity i and that requires at least an attempt at analysis. The posting above is a better attempt at doing this than your previous one.


I did explain what equity is:

Equity is a set of legal principles that developed to try to mitigate the rigours of the common law (this is the common way of putting it) because sometimes the common law's strict rules led to unjust results.
(edited 10 years ago)

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