Guidance

Charity trustees: resignation and removal

Find out what procedures you need to follow to resign as a charity trustee or remove a trustee from the board.

Applies to England and Wales

Length of service for trustees

Your charity바카라 사이트™s governing document may include a set number of years trustees can serve for. A trustee who has reached the end of their set term can be re-appointed for another term, unless your governing document says otherwise.

If your governing document doesn바카라 사이트™t specify a length of service, trustees continue in their role until they die, resign or are removed.

Resignation as a trustee

Generally, trustees are able to resign before the end of their set term. The trustee will need to put their resignation in writing.

Your charity바카라 사이트™s governing document might also include certain rules you will need to follow if a trustee wants to resign.

Make sure you have enough trustees to run your charity. If your governing document states a minimum size for your trustee board, make sure you don바카라 사이트™t go below that number. Find and appoint a new trustee before the retiring trustee leaves.

How to remove a trustee from the board

You usually need a good reason to remove a trustee, such as if they have done something that damages your charity바카라 사이트™s reputation.

Check your charity바카라 사이트™s governing document to see if it has a procedure for removing trustees.

If your charity is a company, you have the right to remove a director, providing you follow the correct procedures. You have this right under the , regardless of what else is written in your articles of association.

Vote of no confidence

You can hold a vote of no confidence to encourage someone to resign as a trustee. This could be part of your charity바카라 사이트™s rules for removing a trustee, or written into its governing document. If it isn바카라 사이트™t part of your charity바카라 사이트™s rules, the vote has no legal power and the trustee won바카라 사이트™t have to resign.

Consider mediation. The has a network of mediators.

It바카라 사이트™s usually straightforward for a trustee to leave if your charity is a company or if there are procedures written in your governing document.

If this is not the case, the may allow you to replace a trustee - for example if they want to retire or refuse to act as a trustee.

How to update your charity바카라 사이트™s details

When a trustee leaves, update the records the Charity Commission holds about your charity - either in your annual return or online.

If the retiring trustee had some special responsibilities, it바카라 사이트™s a good idea to arrange a handover. This might involve the trustee who is leaving:

  • handing over the charity바카라 사이트™s password for the Commission바카라 사이트™s website
  • training others in how to complete the annual return
  • telling the Commission your named contact has changed

If the trustee who is leaving is named on your charity바카라 사이트™s title deeds to land or property, you will need to update the title deeds. There is a set legal procedure for this and you can take professional advice. Always have at least 2 trustees if your charity holds land.

Updates to this page

Published 23 May 2013

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