Donate Dormant Client Funds to BrainWaves
Are you a solicitor, surveyor, or other regulated professional holding dormant or unclaimed client funds?
You can put those funds to meaningful use and comply with your professional obligations by donating them to BrainWaves.
What are dormant client funds?
Dormant client funds, sometimes called residual client balances or unclaimed balances, are sums of money held by regulated firms in their client accounts that cannot be returned to the rightful owner. This can happen for a number of reasons: the client may have moved without leaving a forwarding address, a company may have been dissolved, cheques may have gone uncashed, or the client has simply failed to respond despite repeated attempts to make contact.
Professional rules set by regulators including the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) require firms to make every reasonable effort to return these funds. Where those efforts have been exhausted, regulated firms are permitted, and in some cases required to donate the remaining balance to a registered charity.
By choosing BrainWaves as your recipient charity, you can ensure those funds go directly towards improving the mental health and wellbeing of young people.
Why donate to BrainWaves?
BrainWaves is a registered charity (number 1213437) working at the intersection of research, education and youth wellbeing. We run a long-term cohort study to generate the longitudinal data needed to understand adolescent mental health, we deliver evidence-based curriculum resources to schools, and we empower young people to understand and protect their own wellbeing.
Youth mental health challenges are rising sharply, yet research and school-based support remain seriously under-resourced. Dormant client funds donated to BrainWaves help to change that – funding science, teacher resources and interventions that make a real and lasting difference.
Guidance for solicitors
The SRA Accounts Rules govern how solicitors must handle residual client balances. The key rules are as follows.
Balances of £500 or less
Under SRA Accounts Rules, you do not need prior written authority from the SRA to donate a residual client balance of £500 or less to a charity of your choice, provided you have met all of the following conditions:
- You have made reasonable attempts to establish the identity of the money’s rightful owner.
- You have made adequate attempts to return the money to that person, unless the reasonable costs of doing so would be excessive relative to the amount held.
- You have recorded all steps taken to trace and return the money, and retained those records for at least six years.
- You have kept a central register recording the client’s name, the amount, the recipient charity (including charity number), and the date of payment.
- You hold all receipts from the charity and any indemnity documentation.
- You have not deducted from the balance any costs incurred in attempting to trace the client.
Balances over £500
For balances of more than £500 on any one client matter, use the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (SRA) form to apply to withdraw funds from the client account.
Please note: This guidance is provided as a general summary only. You should always refer to the current SRA Accounts Rules and seek advice from the SRA’s Professional Ethics helpline if you are uncertain about your obligations.
How to donate dormant funds to BrainWaves
- Contact us at enquiries@brainwaveshub.org to notify us of your intended donation and the approximate amount. We will acknowledge your notification and provide our bank details for a BACS transfer, or our registered address if you prefer to send a cheque.
- Please indicate whether you require a formal letter of indemnity to meet your regulatory requirements.
- There is no minimum or maximum donation amount. Whether you are donating a few pounds or a larger sum, we are grateful for every contribution and will ensure it is put to work for the benefit of young people.
- Once we have received your donation we will provide a receipt and indemnity letter (if required).
Frequently asked questions
Does the rightful owner have any ongoing right to reclaim the funds?
Yes. Donating dormant funds to charity does not extinguish the rightful owner’s legal entitlement to the money. If a client subsequently comes forward and makes a legitimate claim, your firm remains liable to return the funds to them. This is why BrainWaves provides a letter of indemnity – so that if a claim arises, the donated funds can be recovered from us and returned to the client.
Can we specify how BrainWaves uses the donation?
Unrestricted donations allow us the greatest flexibility to direct funding where it is most needed. However, if your firm has a particular connection to young people’s mental health or education and would like your donation directed to a specific area of our work, please mention this when you contact us and we will do our best to accommodate your wishes.
Can we donate on behalf of multiple client matters in a single payment?
Yes. You can consolidate multiple small residual balances into a single payment. Please include a schedule with your payment listing each client matter, the balance attributed to it, and confirming that your firm has complied with the relevant regulatory requirements for each.
We are not sure whether our regulatory obligations have been met. What should we do?
For definitive guidance on your regulatory obligations, solicitors should contact the SRA Professional Ethics helpline, and surveyors should contact RICS directly. We can also signpost you to the relevant official guidance documents if that would be helpful.
Get in touch with us
To discuss donating dormant client funds or to request a copy of our indemnity wording in advance, please contact our team on enquiries@brainwaveshub.org