Notices: When is service by email enough?

The article considers the validity of notices sent by email when severing a joint equitable tenancy under section 36(2) of the Law of Property Act 1925. It also examines email notices in the leasehold context, contracts of sale and party wall legislation. The article also argues for a presumption in favour of the validity of email notices which may be displaced upon proof that the sender lacked mental capacity to send the notice. By analogy, under section 1(2) of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, a person is to be assumed to have capacity unless it is established that he or she lacks capacity. Moreover, by analogy with contract law, an email notice is voidable at the instance of the incapacitated person if the other party was aware of the incapacity.