Charities & Philanthropy

Sectors

Charities & Philanthropy

Services for charities, trustees and donors

We advise a wide range of charity clients on all the legal issues which affect them. From commercial matters, tax issues, fundraising and investment, employment law, and intellectual property to dispute resolution. Working with our property team, we advise on the special rules which apply to charity real estate transactions.

Whether you are starting out with a new charity or yours is a long-established charitable organisation and you need advice in dealing with the Charity Commission , we can assist. We regularly advise on governance issues and on mergers, amalgamations and incorporation of charitable entities of all kinds

Types of charities

We have particular expertise when it comes to charities in the animal welfare, medical, religious and educational sectors. We also advise a broad range of individuals on the tax implications of charitable giving and set up and run many family grant-making charities.

We often get asked to help in cases, following a death, where an estate with charitable beneficiaries is disputed.

We also regularly advise individuals and families on their philanthropic giving and the best ways to achieve their aims.

Legal 500 commentary

Druces’ charities practice has been recognised in the Legal 500: ‘Druces has a strong team of partners dealing with charities. Whether a large or small charity you will get a caring and personal service’.

The ‘diplomatic and persuasive’ Richard Monkcom ‘is the technician who knows charity law inside out and is often used as a reference point for difficult legal or technical matters’.

The ‘excellent’ Helen Freely is ‘efficient, easy to approach and work with, and highly skilled’.

Head of Corporate Restructuring, Caroline Cropley, regularly advises charities on various corporate issues.

Recent work

We act for one of the UK’s largest animal welfare charities across a range of property, governance and commercial issues.
We have developed a particular expertise of advising charities on publishing agreements, especially important where a charity relies on that material as a primary source of funding. That advice has extended to advising on international co-operation and affiliation agreements with other European charities.
We advised on the formation of a new charity for overseas clients who anticipate significant funding for the charity in the future, especially from the USA. This in itself created tax issues that we advised the charity on.
We have advised a large number of individuals on the tax implications of their charitable giving (usually involving very significant sums) in the context of their personal affairs.
We advised a religious order in relation to the amendment of its constitution.