Charities Act 2011

63 Application cy-près: donor unknown or disclaiming

(1) Property given for specific charitable purposes which fail is applicable cy-près as if given for charitable purposes generally, if it belongs—

(a) to a donor who after—

(i) the prescribed advertisements and inquiries have been published and made, and

(ii) the prescribed period beginning with the publication of those advertisements has ended,

cannot be identified or cannot be found, or

(b) to a donor who has executed a disclaimer in the prescribed form of the right to have the property returned.

(2) Where the prescribed advertisements and inquiries have been published and made by or on behalf of trustees with respect to any such property, the trustees are not liable to any person in respect of the property if no claim by that person to be interested in it is received by them before the end of the period mentioned in subsection (1)(a)(ii).

(3) Where property is applied cy-près by virtue of this section, all the donor’s interest in it is treated as having been relinquished when the gift was made.

(4) But where property is so applied as belonging to donors who cannot be identified or cannot be found, and is not so applied by virtue of section 64 (donors treated as unidentifiable)—

(a) the scheme must specify the total amount of that property,

(b) the donor of any part of that amount is entitled, on making a claim within the time limit, to recover from the charity for which the property is applied a sum equal to that part, less any expenses properly incurred by the charity trustees after the scheme’s date in connection with claims relating to the donor’s gift, and

(c) the scheme may include directions as to the provision to be made for meeting any claims made in accordance with paragraph (b).

(5) For the purposes of subsection (4)(b)—

(a) a claim is made within the time limit only if it is made no later than 6 months after the date on which the scheme is made, and

(b) “the scheme’s date” means the date on which the scheme is made.

(6) Subsection (7) applies if—

(a) any sum is, in accordance with any directions included in the scheme under subsection (4)(c), set aside for meeting claims made in accordance with subsection (4)(b), but

(b) the aggregate amount of any such claims actually made exceeds the relevant amount;

and for this purpose “the relevant amount” means the amount of the sum so set aside after deduction of any expenses properly incurred by the charity trustees in connection with claims relating to the donors’ gifts.

(7) If the Commission so directs, each of the donors in question is entitled only to such proportion of the relevant amount as the amount of the donor’s claim bears to the aggregate amount referred to in subsection (6)(b).