Unity of seisin (in modern terms, unity of ownership) is where the ownership of the freehold interest in both the dominant and servient tenements come into the ownership and possession of the same person. This is in line with the principle that it is not possible to have an easement over one’s own land: Roe v Siddons. It is generally accepted that for an easement to be extinguished by unity of ownership, the ownership in question must be for an estate in fee simple absolute, although there is no express authority on this point. Where only part of the burdened land comes into the ownership of the person who owns the benefitted land, unity of seisin would appear to apply in relation

In order to process personal information lawfully under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Regulation (EU) 2016/679, the employer needs to identify a legal basis before it can process personal data. The lawful processing conditions under Article 6 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679, GDPR include where processing is necessary for the purposes of legitimate interests pursued by the controller or a third party, except where such interests are overridden by the interests, rights or freedoms of the data subject. The Information Commissioner’s GDPR guidance states, in relation to the legitimate interests condition, that it is the most flexible lawful basis for processing, but the data controllers cannot assume it will always be the most appropriate. The GDPR guidance goes on to say that: • the legitimate interests condition is likely to be most appropriate where the data controller uses people’s data in ways they would reasonably expect and which have

According to the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, where an employer is proposing to dismiss as redundant 20 or more employees at one establishment within any period of 90 days or less, this gives rise to statutory obligations to: • inform • consult • notify the Secretary of State in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy This statutory consultation obligation is separate from and in addition to: • any consultation to ensure the dismissal is fair • any duty to inform and consult in relation to a relevant transfer

For information: • on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) scheme generally, see Practice Note: Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (extended version 1 July to 31 October 2020) [Archived] • on the right to paid holiday, see Practice Notes: Holiday and Holiday pay It is clear from the HMRC guidance: Check if you can claim for your employees’ wages through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme that an employee can take holiday while they are on furlough. If an employee is flexibly furloughed then any hours taken as holiday during the claim period should be counted as furloughed hours rather than working hours. For further information, see Practice Note: Coronavirus (COVID-19)—holiday

In accordance with the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (All Tiers) (England) Regulations 2020, SI 2020/1374 (as amended), current Cabinet Office guidance: National lockdown: Stay at Home, makes it clear that an individual is not permitted to leave or be outside of their home except where they have a ‘reasonable excuse’. Anyone contravening the law can be fined up to a maximum of £6,400. For further information about the legislative underpinning of the most recent national lockdown provisions on 6 January 2021, see: • the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (No 3) and (All Tiers) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2021, SI 2021/8 • the

We have assumed, for the purposes of this Q&A, that the employee’s salary has by this time either been suspended, or reduced. An employee's contract of employment may contain express provisions entitling them to be paid, and to receive contractual benefits, during any periods of sickness absence. There may even in some cases be an implied term obliging the employer to pay and provide contractual benefits during periods of sickness absence. In relation to express terms, an employer does not have to agree to any such express contractual terms. If the employer does agree, the contract of employment is likely to specify the duration of any entitlement to sick pay, the rate at which sick pay will be paid, and whether or not the employee will continue to receive their contractual benefits during a period of sickness absence. An employer may, for example, agree to pay sick pay at full rate for

Designating a period of work as an unpaid ‘trial’ does not mean that the individual is not entitled to be paid the national minimum wage; it will depend on whether, in principle, the individual qualifies for the national minimum wage, and whether any of the exclusions apply. A person qualifies for the national minimum wage if they: • are a worker • are working, or ordinarily works, in the UK under their contract, and • have ceased to be of compulsory school age A ‘worker’ is an individual who has entered into or works under (or, where the employment has ceased, worked under): • a contract of employment (limb a), or • any other contract, whether express or implied and (if it is express) whether oral or in writing, whereby the individual undertakes to do or perform personally any work or services for another party to the contract whose status is not by virtue of the contract

The personal representatives (PRs) of an estate would be personally liable, up to the value of the estate, for liabilities incurred by the deceased person. Such liabilities would include contingent liabilities for which no claim has yet been made. The PRs may be able to protect themselves by publishing a notice which complies with section 27 of the Trustee Act 1925 (TA 1925) but where PRs know of a future liability, they receive no

In this Q&A we assume that the owner of the property is a non-UK resident individual and is not calculating trade profits on the cash basis. For details of how a person is taxed on UK property income generally, see Practice Notes: Property income—the income tax charge and Non-resident landlords scheme. As explained in those Practice Notes, the profits of a property business are calculated in broadly the same way as the profits of a trade. Certain core rules relating to the calculation of trading profits are incorporated into the property income rules, including: • the calculation of profits in accordance with generally accepted accounting practice (GAAP) • the exclusion of receipts or expenses of a capital nature (including expenditure

File reviews show that an organisation takes quality and compliance seriously. File reviews and audits provide meaningful statistics and, if issues are identified, the audit information can be fed into your risk register or other plan and remedial steps implemented. It is important to have the correct levels of supervision in place. It can be useful to have a Supervision policy, which sets out supervision arrangements including those relating to file audits/reviews, governance and reporting lines, work allocation, supervision of work, case progression, supervising correspondence and outsourcing arrangements. Regulatory requirements SRA requirements There is no formal regulatory requirement to have a file review procedure, but the SRA Codes of Conduct require you to: • have an effective system for supervising client matters, and • ensure the individuals you manage are competent to carry out their role, and keep their professional knowledge and skills, as well as their understanding of their legal, ethical and regulatory obligations, up-to-date Where you supervise or manage others providing legal services: • you remain accountable for the work carried out through them,

A fixed charge receiver is appointed by a lender pursuant to a power contained within the fixed charge or deed of mortgage. A fixed charge receiver is technically different from a Law of Property Act Receiver (LPA Receiver), who is appointed under section 109 of the Law of Property Act 1925, but the term LPA Receiver is often used to refer to a person who is in fact appointed under the terms of the fixed charge. The receiver is deemed the agent of the borrower, not the lender, but is appointed by and under powers for the benefit of,

Section 55 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (TCPA 1990) defines development, for which planning permission is required by virtue of TCPA 1990, s 57, as: • the carrying out of building, engineering, mining or other operations in, on, over or under land, or • the making of any material change in the use of any buildings or other land There is no statutory definition