Glossary of Terms
Assets
This means everything a charity owns; property, money, equipment, including heritable property (such as land and buildings and rights attached to it).
Assignation (of a lease)
A title document whereby all rights that a lessee or tenant possesses over a property are transferred to another party.
Books of Council and Session
A public register of deeds held by the Keeper of the Registers of Scotland in which a wide variety of deeds may be registered.
Charity trustees
The persons having the general control and management of the administration of a charity. Where the governing document is a trust deed which appoints trustees and establishes a Management Committee, both the trustees and the Management Committee are likely to be regarded as the charity trustees.
Company Limited by Guarantee
A company is a membership organisation formed and registered under the provisions of the Companies Acts. It is incorporated and benefits from limited liability for its members.
Disposition
Formal document transferring ownership, or "title", to the land.
Dispone
Used in relation to land, this word means to transfer ownership.
Ex officio trustee
A trustee appointed by virtue of his or her position or status.
Governing document
A legal term defined in section 106 of the 2005 Act: Articles of Association (for companies); Trust Deed (for Trusts) an enactment which establishes and/or states a charity’s purposes (for a charity established by enactment); the Royal charter or warrant (in relation to a charity established by Royal charter or warrant); the definition given in section 50 of the 2005 Act, (in relation to a SCIO); or the instrument which established the charity or body and states its purposes (any other charity or body).
Heritable title
Heritable title to property is essentially the ownership of land, and other rights and interests relating to land.
Limited liability
Limited liability is where a person's financial liability is limited to a fixed sum, most commonly the value of a person's investment in a company or partnership.
Management committee
Those responsible for the day to day management and control of the trusts subjects.
Preamble
The introductory part of a statute or deed, stating its purpose, aims, and justification.
Property trustees
The legal owners of the heritable property, where it is held in trust.
Register of Sasines
A chronological list of land deeds, which contain written descriptions of properties, held by the Keeper of the Registers of Scotland (pre-dates the Land Register).
Reorganisation conditions
These are the criteria that must be satisfied in order for OSCR to approve a reorganisation scheme. They describe the difficulties experienced that the charity’s trustees want to address.
Chapter 5 of the 2005 Act:
‘(a) that some or all of the purposes of the charity—
(i) have been fulfilled as far as possible or adequately provided for by other means,
(ii) can no longer be given effect to (whether or not in accordance with the directions or spirit of its governing document),
(iii) have ceased to be charitable purposes, or
(iv) have ceased in any other way to provide a suitable and effective method of using its property, having regard to the spirit of its governing document,
(b) that the purposes of the charity provide a use for only part of its property,
(c) that a provision of the charity’s governing document (other than a provision setting out the charity’s purposes) can no longer be given effect to or is otherwise no longer desirable
(d) that it is desirable to introduce a provision (other than a provision setting out a new purpose) to a charity’s governing document.’
Reorganisation outcomes
Reorganisation outcomes are closely tied to the condition that is met. Reorganisation outcomes are what reorganisation as a whole must achieve.
Chapter 5 of the 2005 Act:
That the proposed reorganisation will:
‘(i) where the condition satisfied is that set out in paragraph (a) or (b) above, enable the resources of the charity to be applied to better effect for charitable purposes consistently with the spirit of its governing document, having regard to changes in social and economic conditions since it was constituted, or
(ii) where the condition satisfied is that set out in paragraph (c) or (d), enable the charity to be administered more effectively.’
Reorganisation scheme
A process which enables charities that do not have the power to make changes to obtain the power, by application to OSCR.
Rules and Regulations
A set of rules which set out how the charity trustees must manage the affairs of the charity.
SCIO
The Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation is a legal form unique to Scottish charities and is able to enter into contracts, employ staff, incur debts, own property, sue and be sued.
For more information see the SCIO guidance on our website.
Supplemental Deed of Trust
A document which sits alongside the original Trust Deed but which may modify and restate the provisions of the Trust.
Title Deed
Formal document transferring ownership, or "title", to the land.
Trust
A trust is usually set up where assets (e.g. property, investments) are given by one person (the Donor) to another (the Trustees) with the intention that is should be applied for the benefit of a third party or the public (the Beneficiary). Once this occurs, the trustees own the asset, but can only apply it in accordance with the trust for the benefit of the beneficiaries.
Trustor
The trustor or “grantor” of a trust is the person who creates the trust by giving property to the trustees for the benefit of third party beneficiaries.
Trust Deed
The governing document of a Trust.
Trust Property/Trust subjects
Assets held by trustees for a beneficiary/beneficiaries.
Unincorporated association
A voluntary or unincorporated association is a group of people who have decided to work together to accomplish a common agreed non-commercial purpose, such as a club, society, local group or community association.
Vests
Settles or confers property, power, or rights on somebody. Title to a property vests in trustees in accordance with the terms of the trust deed.