Declaration of trust?

if a declaration of trust was intended to be put in place, but was never signed and the couple have since split, would it stand in a court of law or woulld the property be split evenly ?
Answers:
Basic principles for a trust to exist have always been clarity and certainty. There are very important rules all designed to ensure the trustees have proper legal title and that the beneficiaries are clearly identified. If not done properly you'll have an incompletely constituted trust. I'm not sure if you are hoping that a trust can still be established despite some apparent lack of signature on what or where, or that it must automatically fail for whatever reason. If this lack of a signature is due to some fault outside the control of the settlor or trustees or if the trustee comes into possession of the trust property via the will of the deceased settlor as executor or trustee you might be able to save or establish a trust which had apparently not been properly constituted. After that the disposition of any property will follow the various rules of disposition, inheritance etc.

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I think I would concur with ice to a certain extent. This sounds like the intention to execute an express trust. The absence of this does not exclude the possibility of a constructive trust or some other equitable interest.

This is a very complex area of law and is something that should be placed in the hands of a specialist equity and trusts solicitor.

Good luck