Written by Sarah Barton, JD

A fiduciary duty is defined as “a duty to act with the highest degree of honesty and loyalty toward another person and in the best interests of the other person (such as the duty that one partner owes to another).”The law governing a limited liability company (LLC) is similar to that governing a corporation or partnership—the LLC’s older siblings in the family of business entities—in imposing fiduciary duties; however, for LLCs, fiduciary duties may be modified by contract to the extent permitted under state law.

The past year has been full of significant developments in estate planning, business law, elder law, and special needs law. To ensure that you stay informed of these legal changes, we have highlighted some of the year’s most noteworthy developments and discussed how they may impact your estate planning, elder law, and business law practices, including

• enactment of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA),
• denial of a deceased spouse unused exclusion (DSUE) claim,
• holding a nursing facility has standing to challenge a resident’s adverse Medicaid eligibility decision,
• issuance of an interim final rule exempting US persons and domestic companies from Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) reporting requirements, and more!

In the past month, we have seen significant developments in estate planning, business law, elder law, and special needs law. We have highlighted the most noteworthy developments to ensure you and your firm stay informed of any changes. From the Internal Revenue Service’s release of 2026 transfer tax exemption amounts and proposed rule regarding the tax deduction for qualified tips, to a ruling that a special needs trust is a countable resource, read on to learn how these decisions may impact your practice.