• Charity Formation, including preparing governing instruments and registering with the Charity Commission, and for Incorporated Charities registering at Companies House;
• Advice on all aspects of charitable status, governance and regulation, including responsibilities of charity trustees and investigations by the Charity Commission;
• Property transactions for charities;
• Employment and Human Relations for charities;
• Advice on changes in charity law, including the new Charities Act 2006;
• Amalgamation of charities and modernisation of governing documents;
• Intellectual Property issues;
• Taxation

Examples of our recent work for charities include advising the following:

• governors of a major religious charity in relation to governance issues and the updating of its Royal Charters, Bye-Laws and Rules of Procedure following a major review
• directors of a charitable company following a Charity Commission inspection
• trustees of a pension trust set up to benefit the employees of a major high street retail chain in relation to governance issues, trustee responsibilities and their obligations under the Trustee Act 2000, including trustee indemnity insurance
• directors of a major welfare charity as to whether an ex-gratia payment to an employee would be within their trustee powers
• directors of a charity set up to provide workshops for disadvantaged children and adults in Sheffield with respect to their powers under the trust deed to use derivatives and fixed interest investments
• trustees of two educational charities which work with children and disabled adults in relation to their proposed amalgamation, including checking for prohibitions on amalgamation within their governing documents and dealing with due diligence prior to the amalgamation
• a major Jewish charity and administering a variety of estates ranging in complexity on its behalf

As well as acting for all kinds of UK registered charities we continue to advise a variety of not-for-profit organisations such as voluntary bodies, schools, other educational facilities, building and heritage preservation societies, Social Enterprises and Incorporated Charities.