Cohabitation Law and Practice Handbook

Cohabitation Law and Practice Handbook is a comprehensive and authoritative introduction to the current law and procedure in this area written by a team of experts in cohabitation law.

Available to pre-order: publication May 2025

Formerly, Cohabitation Claims, the new Cohabitation Law and Practice Handbook has been fully revised and expanded to cover all aspects of the law and procedure on cohabitation to support family lawyers advising unmarried couples on property and trust law principles that have evolved over many years. Cohabitation Law and Practice Handbook is written by an expert team of cohabitation law specialists and edited by Graeme Fraser, Chair of Resolution’s cohabitation committee.

The aim of this book is to provide family justice professionals with confidence and practical guidance through each stage of the process from initial instruction to final hearing. Family lawyers are often concerned about their lack of familiarity with the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR), and it can prove challenging to advise on the complex concepts emerging from the case law relating to cohabitant property claims. This book aims to be a comprehensive introduction to the current law and procedure in this area.

This edition has been updated to include:

  • analysis of recent court decisions including Hudson v Hathaway and Guest v Guest and more recent case law updates on the quantification and valuation of the beneficial interest under a constructive trust, and the quantification of interest under proprietary estoppel
  • a new chapter  on non-legally binding marriages following the decisions in Akhter v Khan and Tousi v Gaydukova
  • a new overview of the tax position for cohabiting couples setting out considerations regarding capital gains tax, inheritance tax, and stamp duty land tax
  • updated case studies are updated to take into account significant case law decisions
  • cross references to Resolution Guidance generally and coverage of developments in domestic abuse policy and practice

Contents include:

  • Trust principles
  • First meeting
  • Pre-action conduct
  • The conduct of proceedings
  • Further procedural matters
  •  Possible related proceedings
  • Possible satellite issues
  • Avoiding TOLATA disputes
  • Case studies
  • Appendices

Available to buy in three formats

Cohabitation Law and Practice Handbook is available to pre-order in print, as a PDF and as a Print + PDF bundle. If you pre-order the PDF or the print + PDF bundle, you will be emailed on publication with a link to download the file.

Print

From £75

Pre-order now

PDF

From £75

Pre-order now

Print + PDF bundle

From £105

Pre-order now