Property rights in money

Property Rights in Money is a systematic study of how proprietary interests in (ownership of and transactions in) money are transferred and enforced as part of a payment transaction. The book begins by considering the different kinds of property recognised by the law which perform the economic functions of money.

It describes how the nature of an owner's proprietary interest differs depending on the kind of property that is treated as money. The main body of the work provides a detailed account of how property rights in money are transferred from one person to another, and the proprietary consequences when a transfer of money is ineffective.

For example, the work considers the consequences for the passing of property in money when a person pays the money by mistake, through the fraud of another or through a breach of his or her duties as a trustee or a company director. The author provides a coherent explanation of the proprietary effect of money transfers whether made via a transfer of coins or banknotes or, as is now more common, through a bank payment system. The final section of the book considers how a person can enforce his property rights in money, and the legal remedies open to him to recover his money once it is in the hands of a person who is not entitled to it.