Charities Act 1978

Property given for specific charitable purposes which fail shall be applicable cy près as if given with a general charitable intention, where it has been given—

by a donor who, after such advertisements and inquiries as are reasonable, cannot be identified or cannot be found; or

by a donor who has executed a written disclaimer of his right to have the property returned.

For the purposes of this section property shall be conclusively presumed (without any advertisement or inquiry) to have been given by donors who cannot be identified, in so far as it consists—

of the proceeds of cash collections made by means of collecting boxes or by other means not adapted for distinguishing one gift from another; or

of the proceeds of any lottery, competition, entertainment, sale or similar money-raising activity, after allowing for property given to provide prizes or articles for sale or otherwise to enable the activity to be undertaken.

The court may by order direct that property not falling within subsection (2) shall for the purposes of this section be treated (without any advertisement or inquiry) as having been given by donors who cannot be identified, where it appears to the court either—

that it would be unreasonable, having regard to the amounts likely to be returned to the donors, to incur expense with a view to returning the property; or

that it would be unreasonable, having regard to the nature, circumstances and amount of the gifts, and to the lapse of time since the gifts were made, for the donors to expect the property to be returned.

Where property is applied cy près by virtue of this section, the donor shall be deemed to have parted with all his interest at the time when the gift was made; but where property is so applied as having been given by donors who cannot be identified or cannot be found, and is not so applied by virtue of subsection (2) or (3)—

the scheme shall specify the total amount of that property; and

the donor of any part of that amount shall be entitled, if he makes a claim not later than twelve months after the date on which the scheme is made, 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 that date in connexion with claims relating to his gift; and

the scheme may include directions as to the provision to be made for meeting any such claim.

For the purposes of this section, charitable purposes shall be deemed to "fail" where any difficulty in applying property to those purposes makes that property or the part not applicable cy près available to be returned to the donors.

In this section, except in so far as the context otherwise requires, references to a donor include persons claiming through or under the original donor, and references to property given include the property for the time being representing the property originally given or property derived from it.

This section shall apply to property given for charitable purposes, notwithstanding that it was so given before the commencement of this Act.