Interesting article in today’s Wall Street Journal, New IRS Trust Rules Complicate Charitable Giving:

People planning to give to charity through a trust soon may need written permission from their spouses, according to IRS rules slated to take effect June 28. The spousal-waiver requirements may seem reasonable enough, but they are being criticized as a heavy-handed response to a legitimate though rare problem — namely that surviving spouses in certain states can stop a donation from going to the charity, even though the deceased donor benefited in life from a tax deduction for the gift. The main concern of the waiver’s opponents is that donors who fail to get a legitimate waiver can lose the tax benefits of the trust, according to tax specialists — even if the surviving spouse doesn’t interfere with the charitable donation.