Specialist Charity Law Advice for Faith Based Charities

Legal advice for faith charities & other organisations

Faith organisations need experienced legal advisers who understand the unique and complex framework within which they operate. We act for a broad range of faith organisations, including charities and organisations operating within Church of England Dioceses, the United Reformed Church, Sikh temples (gurdwaras), mosques, Hindu temples and Quaker meetings and also support umbrella bodies for a number of faiths.

Quick Enquiry

A significant element of our work with faith organisations involves working with our dispute resolution team to help trustees, members or other interested parties resolve internal disputes or concerns about misconduct or mismanagement. Further information on the context for such disputes can be found in this article. Wherever possible, we work with faith organisations and the umbrella bodies that support them to implement governance changes to help avoid disputes before they arise.

Expert legal advice & practical support

Many faith organisations operate as charities. We have significant experience in advising faith charities on a range of issues. We have a dedicated and nationally recognised team of lawyers who specialise in charity law, particularly as it applies to faith charities. Our clients look to us for commercially focussed legal advice and support to help them to run their organisations and implement new initiatives, whilst most effectively furthering their mission.

We provide expert legal advice to our faith organisation clients on all aspects of their operations. Our charity lawyers are knowledgeable and understand the interplay between secular law and the framework within, and the rules by, which your organisation operates. This enables us to provide practical and pragmatic advice, which is also sensitive to specific relationships and the ethos of your organisation's faith.

Added value

Our experience allows us to identify common issues and difficulties and allows our team of charity lawyers to share general advice of particular importance to faith organisations. This can range from the eligibility of trustees, to reviewing governing documents and advising on governance issues.

We also run practical training seminars on a variety of specialist subjects.

Legal services

Setting up a charity

You need to get the best start when it comes to setting up a charity.

Our team has a lot of experience in setting up new charities across the whole spectrum of sub-sectors and in a range of legal forms. We can guide you through the start-up process from helping you to analyse whether a charity is right for you, through deciding on the most suitable legal structure and establishing the charity, to completion of the registrations with the Charity Commission and with HMRC.

Contact us to find out how we can help.
Brand and reputation management

Social media and the ease of online publishing means that reputation management is an increasingly important consideration for charities.

It is increasingly common for disgruntled individuals, employees and competitors to cross the line, making comments or taking action that is inaccurate or unlawful. Our experience allows us to advise on the most appropriate form of resolving a dispute, from urgent injunction applications to amicable resolution through mediation.

Contact us to find out how we can help.
Commercial contracts

Our knowledge of the charities sector is critical when it comes to preparing commercial contracts and resolving commercial contract disputes. It means that the legal advice and support that you receive is relevant to your needs and will be better value for you.

Contact us to find out how we can help.
Data and information

Information is a vital asset to many charities and managing it well is an obvious strategic aim, but it can also pose risks if it is not properly managed.

We help charities to understand the scope and extent of their legal and regulatory obligations in relation to the data and information they hold, as well as bespoke training to support our clients on the practicalities of information management. We also offer an audit service which can identify key areas of risk.

See more on how we can help with charity data protection.
Dispute resolution

Our litigation and dispute resolution team specialises in helping charities to resolve disputes in the most efficient and cost effective way.

Whilst litigation through the courts is a costly option for resolving disputes, there are many other methods of alternative dispute resolution available including negotiation, adjudication, expert determination, mediation and arbitration. These can often can be quicker, cheaper and more collaborative than traditional litigation.

Contact us to find out how we can help.
Employees and volunteers

We provide a comprehensive range of legal support for our charity clients in relation to their employees and volunteers. This includes a combination of policies, procedures and training for those involved in recruitment to help reduce the legal risks that may arise. Where there is an employment dispute, we can guide you through the process and be proactive in managing tribunal claims.

See more on how we can help with charity employees and volunteers.
Finance and funding

Being able to source and secure funding is vital to the operations of a charity, but can be challenging. Whether you are a grant-making charity making grants to further charitable aims, or a charity looking to undertake a capital project or support its cash-flow requirements, we can guide your trustees through the issues and legal duties to consider.

See more on how we can help with charity finance and funding.
Fundraising

Fundraising is a key topic for the third sector, with attention from regulators and the media being devoted to charity fundraising practices. With new legislation and regulatory requirements, it is more important than ever for charities participating in fundraising to ensure that they fully understand the new framework.

Contact us to find out how we can help.
Governance and regulation

Effective charities depend upon good governance and good governance is as essential to the success of the charity sector as it is to corporate UK.

We ensure that the impact of the regulatory regime to which a charity is subject informs all of the advice that we give, from day-to-day advice on employment and property issues through to major strategic decision about mergers and restructuring.

See more on how we can help you with charity governance and regulation.
Grant-making

Many charities advance their charitable purposes by making grants to both charitable and non-charitable organisations.

With ever increasing funding issues in the third sector, grant making charities are seeing an increased rise in grant applications. Whether a small or large grant making charity, it will be important to ensure that you are complying with your legal and regulatory obligations in respect of your activities, in particular, in respect of the provision of grants to non-charitable organisations.

Contact us to find out how we can help.
Legacies, trusts and probate

Many charities benefit from bequests and for some, a large bequest can change the future of the charity. We help charities if they encounter issues during the administration of an Estate, for example, due to poor drafting of the Will, the charity has merged since the date the Will was made, or as a result of challenges from others claiming an entitlement to the Estate.

See more on legacy protection.
Mergers and restructuring

We are experienced at guiding charities through strategic change and have a number of key guidance documents for all types of project. We will meet with you to help you plan the best route to your objectives and assess the critical path and key risks.

See more on charity mergers and restructuring.
Procurement and Subsidy Control

Public procurement and subsidy control issues can often arise for charities, particularly in relation to grant funding. Our dedicated public procurement and subsidy control team has a strong national reputation and experience in advising clients in the charity sector. Our experience covers day to day advice on the application of the rules as well as structuring projects to comply with the rules.

Find out more about our procurement and subsidy control expertise.
Property

The wide range of work we do for charities in relation to their real estate reflects the wide range of strategic objectives that they have. Understanding charity law and regulation as it applies to real estate is obviously essential, but we use both our charity sector knowledge and our experience in the commercial sector to ensure that our clients receive the best advice.

See more on the property legal services we provide to charities.
Safeguarding

Safeguarding has been identified by the Charity Commission as one of the three key strategic risk areas prioritised in its latest risk framework.

Our clients look to us for legal advice and support which reflects the requirements and expectations of the Charity Commission and any other regulator with oversight of what they do. This can range from support on day to day operational compliance through to advice on the big strategic decisions that trustees are sometimes faced with and where there is likely to be a regulatory interest in the outcome.

Contact us to find out how we can help.
Tax and VAT

Charities are able to benefit from a range of tax reliefs and exemptions, but there are strict rules applicable in order to claim (and continue to claim) such reliefs and exemptions. Our tax specialists are able to support charities to understand the scope of their tax liabilities in the context of particular activities and to ensure that no unexpected liabilities arise.

VAT is a particularly complex area for charities and our tax specialists are able to guide you through the VAT framework, allowing you to understand how VAT may affect you charity's operations and activities.

Contact us to find out how we can help.
Trading

Many charities will carry out trading activities to generate and income for their charity. Whether that is trading which directly advances the charity's purpose or non-primary purpose trading, we can assist charities to structure their trading activities appropriately and to find the right balance between risk and reward within the legal and tax framework.

See more on charity trading and how we can help.

For further information regarding the legal advice we provide to faith organisations, please contact Laura Chesham on 0117 314 5314 or make an enquiry below.

Get in touch

Are you looking for legal services? Please complete the form below to find out how our specialist lawyers can support you.

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Faith organisations

Charity Law

Charity Law

How Can We Help?

Con Alexander

Paul Voller

Kathy Halliday