Who is actually responsible for contributions to housing costs has been somewhat clouded by the Welfare Reform Act 2012 (WRA 2012). For most working-age people, Universal Credit has replaced the means-tested benefits previously used to meet living and housing costs. New claims for Housing Benefit are generally limited to people who have reached State Pension age and people living in specified temporary or supported accommodation. Universal credit is available to those on benefits or a low income and can include an aspect for housing costs. Universal credit Universal Credit is a means-tested benefit for people on a low income or out of work. It may include an amount for eligible housing costs. A person who has reached State Pension age may generally claim Housing Benefit instead, subject to the rules for couples and accommodation type. The purpose of universal credit is to help people who are in work as well as those out of work and/or on low incomes. It however, should not be assumed that it will cover the full rental payment as some are worked

Private Client analysis: In the situation where a Trust Deed had been lost, but other Trust Deeds relating to settlements by the deceased were available, the court concluded that it was likely that the terms of the missing Trust Deed were similar, namely an equal division between the deceased’s two children. On that basis the court was willing to make an order that the trustees should be at liberty to pay the trust fund to the deceased’s sole surviving child on the footing (which may turn out to be wrong) that he was the sole remaining beneficiary. This would be a form of Benjamin order, relieving the claimants of liability for misapplication, but not destroying the interest of any third party that there may be. Written by Timothy Clarke, barrister at Three Stone Chambers.

MLex: Finnish pharmacy Yliopiston Apteekki has had a €1.1 million GDPR fine overturned by a Helsinki court. The pharmacy is a public-sector entity as it is owned by the University of Helsinki, and so under Finnish law it can’t be issued a financial penalty, the court said. Lawmakers are currently reviewing a bill to extend fines to the public sector, the privacy regulator said.

Dispute Resolution analysis: The High Court confirmed that the principle in Henderson v Henderson, which prevents parties from advancing a case that could and should have been advanced in earlier proceedings, was capable of being engaged in the same proceedings. This includes where, as in the present case, the claimants sought to amend their claim following strike out of part of their case. The court made clear though that it would be less likely to find such abuse of process in the same action rather than in a situation where a separate action had been commenced, and particularly so where the original claim had been disposed of summarily. On the facts of the case, the court found there was no Henderson abuse and permitted the majority of the proposed amendments to the claim.

Public Law analysis: The National Council for Civil Liberties challenged the lawfulness of the Public Order Act 1986 (Serious Disruption to the Life of the Community) Regulations 2023 (the Regulations) made under the Public Order Act 1986 (POA 1986), as amended by the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 (PCSCA 2022). The Regulations introduced a definition of the term ‘serious disruption to the life of the community’, which had not been defined in the original POA 1986. The Court of Appeal decided that the definition introduced by the Regulations exceeded the amendment powers in POA 1986 because the definition was not consistent with the fundamental purposes of POA 1986. Written by Denis Edwards, barrister, Normanton Chambers.

The merged departments of: (1) Inland Revenue, (2) National Insurance and (3) Customs and Excise.

Herbert Smith Freehills has announced a symposium co-hosted by the University of Vienna and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). The symposium will look into ICSID’s performance history over the past decade and a half and ICSID’s key position in today’s geopolitical context. The former secretary general of the ICSID, Meg Kinnear, is set to be the keynote speaker. The symposium will take place at the University of Vienna on 27 November 2024.

Hereditary succession describes the passing of a deceased person’s property, rights and obligations to their heirs by virtue of family relationship, rather than by will or contract. In UK and Irish practice it broadly corresponds to succession on intestacy and to fixed rights given to certain relatives even where there is a will (such as legal rights in Scotland and succession rights of spouses and civil partners in Ireland).The term is descriptive rather than a defined statutory label, but it is used in textbooks, case law and some legislation as a convenient way to refer to succession based on bloodline or marital/civil partnership connection.In England & Wales and Northern Ireland, hereditary succession largely operates through intestacy rules and family provision legislation. In Scotland, it aligns with “legal rights” and intestate “prior rights” and “legal rights” under the Succession (Scotland) Act 1964 and later reforms. In Ireland, it links to the intestacy regime and the surviving spouse’s/civil partner’s and children’s fixed shares under the Succession Act 1965.Practically, the concept is relevant when advising on estate planning, construing wills, contesting estates and determining who inherits where no valid will exists.

An economic measure of market concentration, used as an indicator of competitive pressure by competition law authorities when assessing whether proposed mergers could be expected to produce anti-competitive effects.

The holder of a standard security ie a creditor who holds a security over heritable property

an item attached to land or a building which is immovable and thus forms part of the land or property as a result

Land, things built or growing on land, rights connected with or affecting land and rights which can be dealt with like land (eg salmon fishing).