A Crummey trust is reviewed when a family wants to make trust gifts using temporary withdrawal rights that may support annual exclusion gift treatment. It is a specialized trust topic because the design usually depends on how beneficiaries receive notice, how long the withdrawal right lasts, and how the gift is documented.
Last reviewed: March 9, 2026
Reviewed against: trust and estate planning references listed on the sources page.
Publisher: Larry Trustee AI Editorial Team | hello@larrytrustee.ai
Contributions are made to the trust, beneficiaries receive a temporary right to withdraw a stated amount, and the trustee follows the notice and administration process described in the trust documents. When the withdrawal period expires, the funds may stay in trust under the long-term distribution rules.
A Crummey trust is a trust reviewed for gifting structures that use temporary withdrawal powers to support annual exclusion gift treatment.
Crummey notices are usually part of documenting that beneficiaries had a limited withdrawal right tied to the gift contribution.
Not exactly. The defining issue is the withdrawal-right design and notice process used in annual exclusion gifting analysis.