Brittany Murphy’s husband Simon Monjack and mother Sharon returned all of the donations made to the Brittany Murphy foundation over the weekend, after TMZ noticed that the foundation was not registered as a charity with the IRS or the state of California - a requirement for all charitable foundations created in the U.S.

Brittany’s mother then posted a note on the foundation’s website late last night, saying,

Dear Friends,

We began the Brittany Murphy Foundation to honor Brittany’s wishes and to give her family, friends, and fans a way of keeping her legacy alive. In an effort to get the foundation off the ground quickly, we established it as a private foundation with plans to apply for non-profit status down the road. However, after some thought, we have decided instead to wait until we have our non-profit status approved before proceeding to insure that we can truly honor Brittany’s charitable desires. Any donations made up until this point will be returned until we have all our paperwork solidified.

We would like to thank the thousands of people who have reached out with kind words of love and support; you have made the hardest journey a little bit easier.

We hope you will bear with us and leave your email below or check back regularly for updates on the foundation. We hope to have it back up and running as soon as possible.

With love and sincere gratitude,

Sharon Murphy and Simon Monjack