Law, collaboration and compassion: Stone King’s 2025 Charity Legacy Conference a success

On Thursday 18 September, attendees from charities of all sizes gathered at The Conduit in London for a day of enlightening talks and networking at Stone King’s annual Charity Legacy Conference, this year titled ‘Shaping the Future of Charity Legacies: Law, Collaboration and Compassion’.

Melanie Carter, Partner and Head of Public and Regulatory at Stone King, began the day’s talks with a presentation on the Assisted Dying Bill. Acknowledging that, should this legislation become law, it will undoubtedly lead to profound societal change, she laid out the proposed process for assessing an individual's eligibility for assisted dying and clearly described the safeguards that will be in place.

Next up was Toby Bishop, Junior Counsel at 5 Stone Buildings, who built upon Melanie's talk with his examination of the case law surrounding forfeiture and relief, and how this relates to the Suicide Act 1961 and assisted dying. One of the cases Toby referenced, Leeson Vs McPherson, was examined in detail by Elle McDonald, Solicitor, in an article published on our website earlier this year: Case study: the Forfeiture Rule in the case of unlawful killing.

After a short comfort break, James Stebbings, of Macmillan Cancer Support and Chair of the Institute of Legacy Management, spoke to the charity legacy officers and managers in the room about the importance of getting emotionally invested in their charity legacy cases. He underlined this point with an anecdote from his time as a legacy officer at Macmillan, about attending the funeral of a donor who was a complete stranger to him, but learning more about this man's life and his loved ones. He promised the audience that they will never regret leaving the office to establish human connection and getting to know the person behind the legacy. He posited that our ability to do this is the best way for us to differentiate ourselves from AI.

The last talk of the morning came from Elizabeth Welch, Senior Lawyer at the Law Commission. She spoke on the recommendations from the Law Commission to government on modernising Wills law. For example, currently, the validity of electronic Wills is uncertain, however, the Law Commission recommends that they become as valid as, and should be subject to the same requirements as, paper Wills. Elizabeth also talked about the fact that a person’s Will is automatically revoked if marriage or a civil partnership has taken place, giving the Law Commission’s reasons for wanting to change this rule, such as predatory marriages.

Chris Sharpe, Partner at Stone King and charity property specialist, presented on the subject of legacies and disposing of charity property. Referencing the fact that there is a lot of impending legislative change – in particular the Renters’ Rights Bill, which is expected to pass into law in October this year – Chris spoke to the charity trustees in the room, informing them of the questions they should be asking around charity land disposals.

The penultimate talk centred on the Charity Commission, and when and how it can assist with legacies. Tom Murdoch, Partner in Stone King’s charity team, covered Section 105 of the Charities Act 2011, under which the Charity Commission can issue orders, allowing a charity's trustees to carry out actions they would otherwise not have the power to perform, such as applying funds in a certain way. Tom noted this might be helpful in relation to restricted gifts.

Concluding the day’s presentations was Luke Watson, Partner and Head of Charity Legacy at Stone King. Using his extensive knowledge, Luke focused on claims made by spouses under the Inheritance (Provision for Families and Dependents) Act 1975. Examining how charities should deal with such claims in light of the Supreme Court decision in Standish v Standish [2025] UKSC 26, he explained the “sharing principle” and why this case is significant for charity legacy practitioners.

The day ended on a high, with a drinks reception and plenty of opportunities to ask questions of the day’s speakers. We would like to thank everyone who attended and give special thanks to the speakers for their invaluable insights.

This summary has barely scratched the surface of the rich and thought-provoking content shared on the day, so we will be collating an email bulletin specifically for the circulation of charity legacy content. If you’d like to receive this and future newsletters from us, but you’re not sure whether you’re signed up to our mailing list, you can do so here: Newsletter sign up.