This summer a popular form of charitable giving - gift annuities - became easier when the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals officially threw out a case that threatened thousands of private colleges and charities nationwide.

Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court had already acted against the suit of a Texas woman who claimed that industry- wide recommendations for donor income on gift annuities amounted to price fixing.

The American Council on Gift Annuities recommends an income rate that will protect the charity's assets and ensure a steady income throughout a donor's life.

In response to the suit, Congress unanimously passed a law exempting such gift annuities from anti-trust laws and Securities and Exchange Commission regulations. The Supreme Court then clarified the issue and ordered the lower court to reconsider its pursuit of the case. Then on June 12 the appeals court finally ended the case.