Asset Management
Constitutional Matters
Increasingly Charities find their attention is
focused on good governance and accountability. We can assist in the
improvement of every aspect of your organisation in these arenas,
paying particular attention to matters including:
- Charity trustees’ duties and powers, responsibilities and
conflicts
- Internal governance and risk management structures
- Interpreting and amending all types of constitution – including
trusts, companies, charter bodies and unincorporated
associations
- Structural issues – including establishing and re-organising
group structures
Charity Legacies
We are frequently called upon as a team to advise on problematic
legacies. In such cases, our objective is always to balance
maximising legacy funds with the need to avoid bad publicity which
can have a lasting impact on future revenue including:
- All legal aspects of legacy fundraising
- Utilising tax exempt status to maximise legacy funds
- All contentious and non-contentious aspects of probates and
trusts
- Cross-border legacies and fundraising
- Charities defending Inheritance Act, propriety estoppel, mutual
will and related claims
- Allocation of legacies left to defunct charities
- Defending wills or challenging ‘death bed’ wills to preserve
intended benefit for charity
- Rectification and construction of wills
- Charities seeking redress from dilatory or fraudulent executors
and attorneys
- Indemnities for executors and trustees
- Correcting executors’ misallocation of inheritance tax
- Splitting life interest trusts to utilise charitable
inheritance tax exemption
If you’d like to secure the best
representation in matters to do with charities or other voluntary
sector organisations, contact us today.
Please see our wills, probate and
trusts page for more information.
Corporate
Choosing the correct legal structure is
important. Hugh James charity team are experienced in advising
organisations on the best structure to suit them including:
- A company limited by guarantee with charitable status (a
charitable company)
- A charitable trust
- A charitable incorporated organisation (permitted under the
2006 Charity’s Act)
- An unincorporated association
- A voluntary organisation
Whichever structure is appropriate, Hugh James
attend to the complete registration process so that you can focus
on achieving your charitable objectives. Good
governance is essential and trustee boards are ultimately
responsible for ensuring this. Hugh James can assist charity
clients in putting in place appropriate procedures for a variety of
risk management issues including:
- Anti discrimination
- Asset Protection
- Health and Safety
- Legal and Accounting Compliance
- Risk management
- Trustee training
Charities often engage in fundraising
activities which involve trading activities. Consequently trustees
must always take care to ensure that tax liabilities are not
unwittingly incurred. Contrary to popular belief, there is no
general exemption from tax for charities. A charity's
trading activities are often carried out through a non-charitable
subsidiary - often a limited company. The Hugh James charity team
are experts in advising on operational requirements of charities.
In particular, the relationship between the charity and its
subsidiary must be carefully structured and monitored to ensure
that charity law obligations are met.
Please see our corporate services page for more
information.
Employment
The Hugh James employment team provides a
comprehensive range of services in dealing with professional and
operational HR issues and handles a variety of employment work
including employment law advice and tribunal representation, HR
consultancy, and training.
We are able to advice on a number of employment legal issues
including:
- Issues including issues around fixed term employees;
- Policy and procedure reviews,
- Restructuring and potential redundancies.
- Equality and discrimination
- Part time pension claims.
- Grievance and disciplinary issues and industrial relation
disputes
- Advising on a number of ill-health issues, particularly with
regard to employees who have been off on long term sick.
Please see our employment services page for more
information.
Property
It is likely that buying or leasing a property
or land is one of the biggest transactions that a charity will
undertake. Astute advice from an experienced Charity solicitor is
essential to ensure that you achieve the best solution for
you.
Our Charity Law Team includes property experts who can assist you
to achieve your objectives
including:
- Acquiring property or land
- Planning issues
- Raising finance
- Joint ventures
- Conveyancing
- Landlord and tenant disputes including dilapidations, breaches
of covenants and rent and service charge arrears
- Nuisance, trespass boundary, restrictive covenants and
easements disputes.
Please see our commercial property services page for more
information.
Please see our property dispute resolution service page for
more information.
Commercial Litigation
As part of its business activities, a charity
will undoubtedly enter into contractual arrangements.
From time to time you may need expert advice
to assist you in resolving disputes with suppliers, leases or
indeed employees. The Hugh James team is expert in dispute
resolution. We offer you a solution-focused value for money
approach to your contract management problems.
Unlike other businesses, charities must always
remember their overriding duty is to protect their charitable
assets. Furthermore, if the trustees are to avoid personal
liability, they must always be ready to justify their decisions in
commercial terms. This duty is also paramount when disputes arise
in connection with a charity's commercial activities.
Hugh James specialise in providing
constructive advice, taking into account all relevant issues,
including the particular constraints which apply in situations
involving charities.
Please see commercial litigation service page for more
information.