I feel sure I knew this once upon a time, but cannot now recall or ascertain the purpose of the words “for its general charitable purposes” or “for its general purposes” sometimes included in legacies to charities. Some precedent books include the words in some but not all of their precedents, but many do not include them at all, but they still appear quite frequently in Wills.
Can anyone remind me why we used to use these phrases, and perhaps why we don’t anymore?
Diana Smart
Gordons LLP
I thought we still did use the term - I know I still do.
I believe it is to allow the application of the doctrine of cy-pre’s, in particular if the charity goes into administration then the intention to make a gift for a general charitable purpose would be upheld and the money could be used for
a similar charitable aim and could not be set against the liabilities owed to creditors, and the gift would not have to be returned to the estate.
Lisa Davies
Sinclairslaw
Thank you Lisa for your reply. I guess that if you are correct, but the Will contains the usual provisions for gifts to other charities in the event of amalgamation, closing down etc of the original charity, that would suffice and render the additional words unnecessary.
Diana Smart
Gordons LLP
I tend to think the additional wording is specifically to guard against the charity going into administration. Without the wording the monies would go to the receiver to be used for creditors. With the wording the monies are safeguarded for another charity with a similar general charitable purpose.
Lisa Davies
sinclairslaw