A trustee resignation letter is the written notice that you, as a trustee, are leaving the board. The Charity Commission says you put that resignation in writing, and that you follow any extra rules in the governing document (the constitution, the articles, or the trust deed). Copy the letter below, and do not date it on a day that leaves fewer trustees than that document allows. What you can still be liable for is in trustee personal liability.
Which resignation rule applies to you
Start with the governing document. CC3, updated on 16 September 2026, says you must follow its rules on how a trustee resigns or is removed. If it has none, CC3 says a company must follow company law on directors, an unincorporated charity must follow the Trustee Act 1925, and a CIO (a charitable incorporated organisation) must have appointment and removal provisions in its constitution.
Trustee Meetings is a governance tool, not a law firm. This is information, not legal advice.
The Commission's resignation and removal page says that, generally, you can resign before the end of a set term, and that you will need to put it in writing. The document might add rules. If it sets no length of service, the same page says you continue until you die, resign or are removed.
Use the row you actually adopted. A model applies only while that wording is still yours.
| Your structure | What has to happen | What stops the notice |
|---|---|---|
| The document sets the method | Follow that clause. CC3 says you must. The Commission's page also says put it in writing. | A date below the minimum the document states. The page tells you to appoint a replacement before the retiring trustee leaves. |
| Charitable company on GD1 article 39(5) | You stop being a director when you give the charity notice that you resign. | Fewer than two directors would remain when the notice takes effect. |
| Guarantee company on model article 18(f) | You cease to be a director once the company receives notice that you are resigning, and it has taken effect on its terms. | Any extra rule in your own articles. Article 18(f) does not contain GD1's "two remain" test. |
| Any charitable company, as well as the articles | Section 167G of the Companies Act 2006 says the company must tell the registrar, within 14 days beginning with the day you cease to be a director. | This filing records a resignation. It is not the resignation. |
| CIO on the Commission's foundation or association model (February 2024) | You retire by notifying the CIO in writing. | Not enough trustees would remain to form a quorum, the minimum who must be present for a decision. |
| Unincorporated association on GD3 | You cease to hold office if you resign by notice to the charity. | Fewer than two trustees would remain when the notice takes effect. |
| Unincorporated, and the document is silent | The Commission's page says leaving is usually straightforward where the document has a procedure, and that otherwise the Trustee Act may allow a replacement if you want to retire. | A letter is not the deed in section 39. Read the next section. |
If the document is silent
Use this only when you have looked and found no resignation clause.
Section 36 of the Trustee Act 1925 is the replacement. The person named in the trust, or the continuing trustees if nobody able and willing holds that power, may appoint your successor in writing. They write it. Your letter does not.
Section 39 is retirement with no replacement, where at least two persons, or a trust corporation, will remain as trustees. You declare by deed that you wish to be discharged, and the co-trustees (and anyone with power to appoint) consent by deed. This template is not that deed. Take advice and use a deed.
Count the board before you choose the date
The Commission's page tells you to keep enough trustees to run the charity, and not to go below a minimum the document states. Appoint first.
Worked count, if you still use the Commission's association-model CIO quorum and have not raised it. That quorum is "two charity trustees, or the number nearest to one third of the total number of charity trustees, whichever is greater". One third of six is two, so the quorum is two. A written resignation takes effect only if at least two will remain.
On Monday 2 November 2026, six trustees hold office. A notice for Friday 13 November leaves five, so it clears a quorum of two. Two notices for that Friday leave four, and still clear it. Five notices for that Friday would leave one, so at least some of them cannot take effect, and it may not be clear which. Appoint before that Friday.
GD1 and GD3 let the notice take effect only if at least two will remain. On a board of three, one can leave. Two cannot leave the same day. If your document says three, use three.
If the charity holds land, the page says always have at least two trustees. If your name is on the title, it says the deeds need the set legal procedure, and that you can take advice. That handover is not a sentence transferring the land.
Trustee resignation letter template
Copy this where your row says notice, or notice in writing. Delete the director sentence if you are not a director. If your row is section 39, do not send this instead of a deed.
[Charity name]
[Registered charity number]
[Your name]
[Your postal address]
[Date of this letter]
To the trustees of [charity name]
I resign as a charity trustee of [charity name], charity number [number].
[I also resign as a director of [charity name]. Delete this sentence if you are not a director.]
This notice takes effect on [date], or on any later date the governing document requires.
On that date, [number] trustees will remain. The governing document requires at least [number].
Please minute this resignation, update the charity's records, and tell the Charity Commission. If the charity is a company, please tell the registrar within 14 days beginning with the day I cease to be a director.
I will hand over charity property, papers and any Commission login I hold on [date]. I [am / am not] named on the title to charity land.
This letter is not a release from anything I did, or failed to do, while I was a trustee. It is not a deed under section 39 of the Trustee Act 1925.
[Signature]
[Name, printed]
The two dates. GD1 and the CIO models count who remains on the date the notice takes effect. Model article 18(f) also uses the date the company received it. Avoid "with immediate effect" if the chair may open the email days later.
The numbers. If you cannot fill both blanks from the document, do not send the letter. Ignore anyone who already resigned from an earlier date.
The director sentence. GD1 article 39(5) accepts notice to the charity. The registrar is separate. Section 167G gives the company 14 days beginning with the day you cease to be a director. Companies House form TM01 is one way to give that notice. It is not the resignation.
The last two sentences. Leave the release sentence in. A letter cannot relieve you of a breach. Relief under section 191 is a Commission order, and relief under section 61 of the Trustee Act 1925 is a court's. The Commission's page does not ask for a reason. If you disagree, ask for that to be minuted, as CC3 describes. The handover date covers the Commission password, the annual return, and any land papers.
The week you send it
- Write the document's minimum on the draft. If there is no clause, use section 36 or section 39, not this letter alone.
- Check other resignation dates. Two letters for the same Friday can fail together.
- Send it as the document requires. Keep the copy.
- Minute the resignation, the effective date, and the number left. Use what charity minutes should include.
- Update the Commission in the annual return or online. The trustee resignation page says you or the administrator uses Update Charity Details. For a registered charity, the what to send page says the register must be kept up to date, including trustee details, and that every trustee remains responsible.
- If it is a company, send the section 167G notice inside the 14 days.
- Hand over the login and any land papers. Give a successor the new trustee induction checklist.
Do this once, then let it run itself. Trustee Meetings is a simple board-meetings tool built for small UK charities. It keeps this resignation letter with the papers of the meeting that recorded it, and the minute can note the date your notice took effect. 30-day trial, then £15 a month or £180 a year. Card required at signup. Cancel any time in the trial. £120 a year if your charity's income is under £25,000. Every trustee included. Try it with your board
What the letter does not do
It is not a section 39 deed, not a transfer of land, and not the section 167G filing. It also does not end liability for past acts. Section 191 is a relief power, not the source of that liability: it lets the Commission excuse a person who is, or has been, a trustee, where its tests are met. Read trustee personal liability before you treat the copy as a clean break. If you disagree, CC3 says you may feel you have to resign to distance yourself, and you can ask for the dissent to be minuted.
Mistakes that leave you still on the board
A text that is not the notice. We see a Sunday-night message that says "I am done", and a chair who still has that name on the next agenda because there is no letter. The Commission's page asks for writing. A deed clause is not met by the text either.
A shared Friday on a board of three. GD1 and GD3 let the notice take effect only if two will remain. One letter can. Two letters for the same day cannot. Appoint, then send one.
Asking the chair for a release. Section 191 is a Commission order where the section fits. Section 61 is a court. A kind reply is neither. The Commission's page also puts the password handover on the list, because the next treasurer cannot file with a login only you can reset.
Frequently asked questions
Can you resign by email? The Commission's resignation guidance says you will need to put the resignation in writing. It does not say an email is enough for every charity. Send the letter in the form your clause describes. If the clause says by deed, an email is not a deed. Our steer, not a Commission rule: where the document only says in writing, send the same letter by email and by post, and keep both copies.
Two of you want to leave on the same day. Can you? Only if both notices still leave the minimum in your governing document. GD3, the Commission's model for an unincorporated association, allows notice only if at least two trustees will remain. The Commission's CIO models allow written notice only if enough trustees will remain to form a quorum. If both letters would break that number, one of you waits. The resignation page tells you to recruit a replacement before the retiring trustee goes.
Who tells the Charity Commission? The resignation page says the charity updates the Commission's records in the annual return or online. Its trustee resignation page says either the trustee or the administrator signs in to My Charity Commission Account and uses Update Charity Details. For a registered charity, the Commission says the public register must be kept up to date, including trustee details, and that all the trustees remain responsible even if someone else sends the update. If the charity is a company, section 167G of the Companies Act 2006 says the company must tell the registrar within 14 days beginning with the day you cease to be a director.
Your name is on the building. Does the letter take it off? No. The Commission's resignation page says that if you are named on the title deeds, the deeds have to be updated, that there is a set legal procedure, and that you can take professional advice. It also says always have at least two trustees if the charity holds land. This letter records that you are leaving the board. It is not a transfer of the land.
This guide is for trustees of charities in England and Wales. CC3 is Charity Commission guidance for England and Wales. Scottish charities are regulated by OSCR, and charities in Northern Ireland by the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland. A company also tells the registrar under the Companies Act 2006. Use the rules for your structure and your country rather than assuming this page applies in full.
Copy the letter, then read trustee personal liability before you treat it as a release. Minute it using what charity minutes should include, and hand over with the new trustee induction checklist. Browse the full guides library.