From the enactment of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to US Supreme Court decisions addressing disability discrimination claims for retirees and the standard applicable to majority-group plaintiffs alleging employment discrimination, we have recently seen significant developments in estate planning, elder and special needs law, and business law.
Current Developments: July 2025 Review
By WealthCounsel Staff on Jul 11, 2025 10:00:00 AM
Current Developments: June 2025 Review
By WealthCounsel Staff on Jun 13, 2025 10:00:00 AM
From the US House of Representative’s passage of a new tax bill to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid’s issuance of new spousal impoverishment standards and the Department of Labor’s decision not to apply its 2024 final rule on worker classification, we have recently seen significant developments in estate planning, elder and special needs law, and business law.
To ensure that you stay informed of these legal changes, we have highlighted some noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning, elder law, and business law practice.
Crummey Rights: A Fresh Look
By WealthCounsel Staff on May 30, 2025 10:00:00 AM
Written by Griffin Bridgers, JD, LLM
Gift tax can be a complex subject, even for advanced practitioners. Confusion often reigns supreme when balancing reporting obligations on Form 709, using lifetime gift tax exemptions and annual exclusions, and determining gift tax values.
The gift tax annual exclusion allows a donor to give up to $19,000 per recipient in 2025. This exclusion can be doubled for married couples through joint gifts or the gift-splitting election. Yet, this annual exclusion does not apply to all gifts. Per Internal Revenue Code (I.R.C.) § 2503(b), this annual exclusion is not available for gifts of “future interests.” Future interests are contrasted with “present interests” in Treas. Reg. § 25.2503-3(b), under which present interests are defined as any “unrestricted right to the immediate use, possession, or enjoyment of property or the income from property.” This requirement of immediate possession or enjoyment is a central focus of this article, as it is a prerequisite to creating a present interest that qualifies for the gift tax annual exclusion.