Individual philanthropists come to Bates Wells for our intricate understanding of charity law, our practical advice and our many years of experience. We’ve advised on major gifts to significant institutions. We’ve established charities for City financiers, celebrities and high net worth individuals. And we’ve worked with families and friends to establish foundations in memory of loved ones.

We can help you to decide on a philanthropic structure.   And whatever structure you decide on, we can steer you through any governance issues, from day-to-day considerations through to managing complex issues on an ongoing basis.

For family foundations, we can advise on how best to structure your charity as a collaborative exercise, drawing in the younger generations to shape the giving of future family members.

If you’re considering gifting a major donation to a charity or institution, we can guide you every step of the way – we’ve advised on some of the largest donations ever made to universities like SOAS and Oxford.

We are able to work collaboratively and seamlessly with your private client lawyers to achieve your philanthropic ambition, bringing our unparallelled sector experience to the table.