Can an existing charity with permanent endowment set up a CIO and transfer the assets to the CIO?

Yes, the CIO General Regulations make special provision to enable charities with permanent endowment to transfer to a CIO.

If you have permanent endowment which you want to transfer, you need to:

  • Set up and register a new CIO, then
  • Make what is known as a vesting declaration under section 310 of the Charities Act 2011 (as amended by the General Regulations). This effectively transfers all the property of the original charity to the new CIO

The vesting declaration will:

  • transfer property which has no restrictions to the CIO to be held as part of its corporate property
  • vest legal title to the permanently endowed property in the CIO, to be held on its original trusts
  • appoint the CIO as trustee for the permanent endowment trust and give it the powers of a trust corporation for that trust
  • mean that the CIO and the permanent endowment trust are treated as a single charity for registration and accounting purposes, so they won't need to register separately or produce separate accounts

It is not our role to provide advice on whether you need to make a vesting declaration. Vesting declarations are legal documents, so you may need advice from a solicitor or other professional. The Law Society provide a way of finding a suitable charity solicitor

Permanent endowment can be spent, in certain circumstances. See Permanent Endowment: What it is and when can it be spent.

 

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