Charitable trusts

Charitable trusts

Charity terms and their meanings

The Charities Act 2011 (CA 2011) needs to be consulted in order to determine the meaning of both ‘charity’ and ‘charitable purpose’ as well as ‘charity trustees’. It also defines the word 'trust' in relation to charities particularly as there is a distinction between a charity and a charitable trust.

An organisation whose objects do not comply with the definition of one of more of the thirteen charitable purposes set out in the CA 2011 while also satisfying the requirement of being for the public benefit cannot be a charity nor a charitable trust.

The requirement of ‘public benefit’ is a cornerstone of the classification of charitable purpose under CA 2011. There are two separate statutory elements to the concept of public benefit—one applicable to the Charity Commission and the other to charity trustees.

See Practice Note: Charity terms and their meaning.

Charitable status

For the purposes of the law in England and Wales, charity means an organisation established for charitable purposes only and falls to be subject to the control of the High Court in the exercise

To view the latest version of this document and thousands of others like it, sign-in with LexisNexis or register for a free trial.

TAKE A FREE TRIAL

Latest Private Client News

Private Client weekly highlights—30 October 2025

This week’s edition of Private Client highlights includes: (1) NHS Trust v DT, in which the Court of Protection held that the choice of location for brain-stem death testing is a best interests decision; (2) Canarapen v Gauchenot, in which the court held that the effective delivery of a deed of variation requires objective evidence of intention to be bound; (3) STEP and Association of Lifetime Lawyers call for IHT reform on infected blood compensation; (4) the Information Commissioner’s Office launches a consultation on charitable purpose soft opt-in rules for fundraising; (5) the Justice Committee publishes a letter seeking clarification from the government on litigation authorisation following Mazur ruling; (6) CIOT publishes technical news update on small profits rate and non-resident companies; and (7) the OECD proposes international exchange of information on property owners.

Question of the week: How binding are general wishes in a Will? For example, if the testator put in a Will that money is left to someone to be used for the maintenance of a specific building or land left to someone and expressed a wish that this land remains to be used for agricultural purposes. Are these sorts of wishes legally binding? Or are they simply treated as a wish and nothing more?

This Q&A considers whether general wishes in a Will are legally binding.

Pensions UK recommendations to Third State Pension Age Review notes healthy life expectancy should guide future pension age increases

Pensions UK has submitted recommendations to the Third State Pension Age Review, proposing that State Pension age increases should only occur with corresponding improvements in healthy life expectancy and 10 years advance notice to savers. The submission recommends maintaining a single State Pension age to avoid confusion whilst allowing flexibility for early retirement in certain circumstances. Pensions UK acknowledges that the Triple Lock mechanism cannot be sustained indefinitely, noting Office for Budget Responsibility projections indicating state pension spending could reach 7.7% of GDP by the early 2070s from around 5% currently. The organisation recommends establishing a clear adequacy level for the State Pension and transitioning to a more sustainable uprating mechanism once this baseline is achieved. The State Pension age is currently 66 and is scheduled to increase to 67 by April 2028, with the government having launched the independent review in July 2025 to assess appropriateness based on updated life expectancy data and financial pressures.

Court makes best interests decisions re pregnancy and contraception for woman with complex mental health presentation (KP (Termination of Pregnancy))

Private Client analysis: The Court of Protection held that a 19-year-old woman with cerebral palsy, autism and multiple personas lacked capacity to make decisions about pregnancy termination and contraception. Applying the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA 2005) framework, the court found termination and contraceptive implant were in her best interests given her deteriorating mental health and self-harm risks. Notable for practitioners, despite unanimous agreement among parties, the Trust sought court approval rather than relying on MCA 2005, ss 5 and 6, demonstrating how judicial oversight can help preserve therapeutic relationships in complex medical cases. Practical implications written by Sophie Caseley of Garden Court Chambers.