Odel after breach of cohabitation contract

Justices: Indreberg, Matheson, Bergsjø, Arntzen, Thyness 

A cohabiting couple bought an agricultural property in 1996. The man took over the property alone when their cohabitation ended in 2006. In 2017, a forced sale of the property was carried out, after which the previous owner requested that the property be released by odel. Like the court of appeal, the Supreme Court concluded that the cohabitation period from 1996 to 2006 had to be included in the calculation of the period for which odel could be claimed, although cohabitants did not have joint odel to such land until in 2009 with the addition of section 15 subsection 4 of the Odel Act. The requirement of an odel period in section 7 subsection 1 of the Odel Act was thus met. The transition rules with the amendment of 2009 did not solve the issue. The Supreme Court placed decisive emphasis on the principle in section 79 subsection 1 of the Odel Act, and held that this interpretation complied with the principle of odel while also satisfying the consideration for equality and cohabitation.