Official custodian for charities meaning

Those serving on a charity’s governing body hold responsibility for the general management and control of the charity’s administration. They are most commonly referred to as ‘charity trustees’, though they may equally also be described as trustees, directors, board members, governors, or committee members. Whatever title is used within the charity, a charity trustee’s duties are broadly the same overall. The precise legal position, however, varies in law depending on whether the charity is incorporated or unincorporated. Trustees hold, and must accept, ultimate responsibility for directing a charity’s affairs, and for ensuring it remains solvent, well run, and delivering charitable outcomes for the benefit of the public for which it has been established. The duty of care Section 1 of the Trustee Act 2000 (TrA 2000, s 1) sets out a statutory duty of care that applies to trustees of charitable trusts when they are exercising specified powers: Whenever this duty is engaged in relation to a trustee, they must exercise such care and skill...

There are numerous trusteeship positions that can emerge from the way a charitable trust is structured and run, ranging from a traditional all‑purpose trustee to a more confined or specialist capacity, such as a bare trustee or a nominee. Functions of trustees of charitable trusts At its most straightforward, there is one collective of individual trustees and, for a charitable (rather than a private) trust, their number is unrestricted even where the trust assets include land. In that arrangement, the trustees take responsibility for: holding legal title to the trust property making all decisions on banking, property management, insurance and investments recruiting staff and entering into contracts receiving and applying income, and, where authorised to spend it, capital, to meet administrative costs and advance the charity’s purposes preparing the annual return and accounts otherwise meeting charity law obligations placed on charity trustees acting as the charity’s representative to the outside world A trustee for all purposes...

Incorporated v unincorporated charities Charities commonly adopt a range of incorporated and unincorporated forms. Corporate forms eligible for charitable status include: a charitable company (almost always a company limited by guarantee) a co-operative society or community benefit society (formerly termed industrial and provident societies) charity trustees incorporated under Part 12 of the Charities Act 2011 (CA 2011) a charitable incorporated organisation (ie the limited-liability model created by Part 11 of CA 2011), requiring registration solely with the Charity Commission a body corporate established by Act of Parliament or Royal Charter (eg the Official Custodian for Charities) Unincorporated charities take one of two forms: a charitable trust; or a charitable unincorporated association Charitable company A charitable company may enter into contracts, execute deeds and issue other documents in the same way as any company formed under the Companies Acts...

An unincorporated charity lacks its own separate legal personality and, in practical and legal terms, does not exist as a distinct body that can enter contracts or own property. Consequently, any property is held and any legal dealings are undertaken solely through, and in the names of, its trustees. Under section 117 of the Charities Act 2011 (CA 2011), ‘charity trustees’ are those who exercise overall control and manage the charity’s administration. Trustees of a charity ought to be recorded with the Charities Commission; however, this does not invariably happen, particularly in the case of smaller charities operating with a rotating board. The identity of the trustees will ordinarily be established by reference to the charity’s charitable articles...

A charity may hold legal title to land or property in its own name only if it is a charitable incorporated organisation or a charitable company. Land Registry Guidance Practical Guidance 14: Charities explains that the term “trust corporation” includes: the Public Trustee (who is not permitted to accept trusts for charitable purposes); a corporation appointed by the court, in any particular instance, to act as trustee; and a corporation entitled, under rules made pursuant to section 4(3) of the Public Trustee Act 1906, to act as a custodian trustee. See section 205(1)(xxix) of the Law of Property Act 1925 and section 17(1)(xxx) of the Settled Land Act 1925, and also section 3 of the Law of Property (Amendment) Act 1926...