Unincorporated association

Unincorporated associations are one vehicle for people to cooperate towards a common goal.

The range of possible unincorporated associations is nearly limitless, but typical examples are:

An amateur football team who agree to hire a pitch once a week and split the cost.
Residents of a street who agree to pay into a collective fund for street sweeping, etc.
A co-operative.
A trade union.
A professional association.

This article focuses on unincorporated associations in common law jurisdictions, such as the United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand. From a legal point of view, the most significant feature of an association is exactly that they are unincorporated: i.e., they lack legal personality. This is in contrast to some civil law jurisdictions, which confer legal personality on associations once they are suitably registered.

Unincorporated associations are cheap and easy to form, requiring a bare minimum of formalities to bring them into existence. (Indeed, the common law on contracts means they can even be formed without their members realising it.) They are also extremely flexible, with examples of tiny associations of just a few people, and national organisations with thousands of members.

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