Powers & Duties

Trustees need to be aware of the powers they have: those set out in the governing instrument of the charity or by statute, and of their duties under the terms of the governing instrument and the general law, and how they are to carry out those duties. We are have considerable experience in explaining these various powers and duties to charity trustees. We also have wide experience in advising and acting for trustees accused of a breach of trust or of their duties, whether by the Charity Commission or by a beneficiary.

Difficult situations may arise, for example, a charity finding that it has no trustees, or of trustees being in breach of their trusts – because, say, one of their number is obtaining a benefit or being paid by the charity; a trustee being legally disqualified from holding such a position or disputes arising between trustees. There may be different approaches to resolving such situations depending on the nature and structure of the charity, but the chances are that the range of solutions available are all ones which we have encountered and advised upon before.