Philanthropy law

We work with individual philanthropists, families and businesses who want to use their wealth to help others and create a better world. We can assist you to structure your charitable giving in line with your values and support the causes you care about. This might mean creating your own foundation, donating to a particular cause or an existing charity, or leaving a legacy in your Will.

If you would like to establish a family foundation or other philanthropic structure, we can guide you through the process of setting up and running a charity, either during your life or as part of estate planning. We can also help you ensure that your giving is tax-efficient, and advise on other options for philanthropy, such as donor advised funds.

We are also proud to advise family businesses on their corporate social responsibility programmes and charitable giving, and work with leading companies that have established, or wish to establish, a corporate foundation. We can advise on Charity Commission registration, day-to-day operations, governance and ensuring that the relationship between your company and foundation meets all legal and regulatory requirements.

Giving to charity is increasingly important to many of our clients and we take time to listen, so we can provide advice that is fully tailored to you. Our approach is informed by our deep understanding of the charity sector and years of experience helping clients achieve the most impact with their giving. Our nationally recognised charity team is highly rated in The Legal 500 (2022) which states that Russell-Cooke "provides service beyond normal legal advice – coordination for complex projects involving multiple advisors and useful strategic insights."

In tandem, our private client and family office specialists offer clear, practical advice on everything from Wills and inheritance issues, asset protection through trusts, loss of mental capacity and all tax advice. With an empathetic approach to helping individuals and families make informed decisions, we provide seamless access to the specialist advice you need. We can help you to maximise the opportunity to use your wealth to do good, through effective estate, tax and succession planning, both during your lifetime and to shape the legacy you leave behind. The Legal 500 (2021) says our private client team’s “advice is easy to understand and yet very sophisticated”.