Elizabeth Darlington hosted a Champagne and Canapes Reception at the Queen's Hotel in Leeds on the 3rd March 2010 to mark the launch of Sweet and Maxwell publication of the new definitive Cohabitation and Trusts of Land which she co-wrote. [See also our News item]

Many solicitors, members and staff attended this event which took place in the beautifully and recently refurbished art deco styled Queens Bar at the hotel. This was a brilliant venue, and they looked after us very well.

Sir Mathew Thorpe provided the following Foreward

It is now three years since I wrote the foreword of the first edition of this invaluable title whose territory is divided by the border between chancery and family law.

My assumption that the title might have a brief shelf life as Parliament hastened to provide justice for cohabitants not of the same sex has been confounded. This government's justification for not legislating the recommendations of the Law Commission in its report published in July 2007 (Law Com No 207) seems to me to disguise a reluctance to legislate on policy grounds. Thus cohabitants whose relationship flounders must continue to face solutions crafted according to the law of trust and property, denied the exercise of a broad judicial discretion available to married couples and cohabitants of the same sex.

There have, since the publication of the first edition, been a number of developments in case law. The most significant is the decision of the House of Lords in Stack v Dowden [2007] UKHL 17. In the chapter that considers claims under Section 15 and Schedule 1 to The Children Act 1989, the authors helpfully analyse a number of recent authorities some of which deal with substantive law and some of which deal with  procedural issues.

Amongst the four co-authors there has been one momentous change: Stephen Wildblood Q.C. is now His Honour Judge Stephen Wildblood Q.C.

The first edition was very well received by judges and practitioners. Those who have come to rely on this guide to a difficult area of the law, and those newcomers to the law, should not hesitate to add the second edition to their library.

Stephen Wildblood QC provided the following General Editor's Introduction

It is with a sense of presumption that I have fulfilled the role of general editor of this book, knowing that I have been little more than a figure head and that the hard graft has been done by others. The three authors have worked unstintingly to make sure that this book is bang up to date, informative and accessible. The area of law covered is complex and is easily confounded by over academic obfuscation. I have found it refreshing to see the law explained by these three authors in a way that is practical and clear.

There is no doubting the expertise of the authors. Elizabeth Darlington practises and writes extensively in this area of law as part of her busy and excellent practice based in Zenith Chambers in Leeds. Laura Heaton is a much respected member of the family bar who practises from 29 Bedford Row Chambers in London and has particular expertise in matrimonial finance, claims under Schedule One of The Children Act 1989 and cohabitation cases. Christopher  Wagstaffe is also a highly respected member of the family bar practising from 29 Bedford Row chambers in matrimonial finance with particular emphasis on cases involving trusts, cohabitation ad international issues.