A recipe for confusion?

The higher courts have had to grapple with the boundaries of the doctrines of proprietary estoppel and constructive trusts on a number of occasions in recent years. In particular, there have been important cases on the role these principles play in the case of joint ownership of property, generally in a family context, for example the recent House of Lords' decision in Stack v Dowden [2007] 2 AC 432, [2007] 2 All ER 929. The flexible potential of both proprietary estoppel and constructive trusts to provide a route to redress in cases of informal or otherwise inchoate agreements is well known. However, the possibility of establishing such a claim in the commercial context must now be considered in the light of the principles set out in the important decision of Yeoman's Row Management Ltd v Cobbe [2008] UKHL 55.

The facts of that case were as follows:
      ●     The respondent, Mr Cobbe, entered into an agreement with the appellant company with