Annual Trust Accounting Requirements in Arkansas

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Arkansas uses a default trustee's report

Ark. Code Ann. § 28-73-813(c) requires the trustee to send a report at least annually and at trust termination to distributees and permissible distributees. Another qualified or nonqualified beneficiary enters that recipient group by requesting a report. For a vacancy with no remaining cotrustee, the former trustee reports to qualified beneficiaries; a personal representative, conservator, or guardian may report for a deceased or incapacitated trustee.

The financial core is compact:

“a report of the trust property, liabilities, receipts, and disbursements, including the source and amount of the trustee’s compensation, a listing of the trust assets and, if feasible, their respective market values.”

The feasibility qualifier attaches to market values. The section does not require carrying values, principal-and-income allocations, agent-fee schedules, a reconciliation, a signature, or a final distribution plan.

Coverage depends on the trust's status and date

Section 28-73-813(e) applies the information and report rules in subsections (a) through (c) only to an irrevocable trust created on or after September 1, 2005 and to a revocable trust becoming irrevocable on or after that date. While a trust remains revocable and the settlor can revoke it, § 28-73-603(b) places beneficiary rights under the settlor's control and makes trustee duties exclusive to the settlor.

Qualified beneficiaries include living beneficiaries in three positions: current distributees or permissible distributees, the next line if those current interests ended without ending the trust, and the distribution line if the trust ended.

Delivery is functional, and waiver is prospective

Ark. Code Ann. § 28-73-109 requires a method reasonably suitable under the circumstances and likely to result in receipt. Its examples are first-class mail, personal delivery, delivery to the last-known residence or business, and a properly directed electronic message. A report need not be sent to someone whose identity or location is unknown and not reasonably ascertainable. The annual report has no routine court-filing, certified-mail, oath, notarization, or proof-of-service requirement, although a court may order a trustee to account in a breach proceeding.

A beneficiary may waive a report or other required information and later withdraw the waiver for future reports. The intended recipient may also waive transmission under § 28-73-109(c). Arkansas's complete mandatory-rule list in § 28-73-105 does not preserve § 28-73-813, so the trust terms may alter this default report duty.

A report can affect claims only if disclosure and notice are adequate

Ark. Code Ann. § 28-73-1005 does not turn every annual report into an automatic release. The one-year period begins only when the beneficiary or representative is sent a report that adequately discloses a potential breach claim and informs the recipient of the time allowed to sue. Adequate disclosure means enough information that the recipient knew of the potential claim or should have inquired into it. If that route does not apply, the five-year period runs from the first listed ending event.

Interested persons may separately use § 28-73-111 to approve a trustee's report or accounting or resolve trustee liability through a qualifying nonjudicial settlement. A beneficiary consent, release, or ratification remains subject to § 28-73-1009's improper-conduct and knowledge exceptions.

Courts have broad breach remedies and fee discretion

For a breach of trust, § 28-73-1001 permits a court to compel performance or an account, stop or redress a breach, appoint a special fiduciary, suspend or remove the trustee, reduce or deny compensation, trace or recover trust property, or order other appropriate relief. Under § 28-73-1004, the court may award costs and reasonable attorney fees as justice and equity require.

What trips people up

Do not send the annual report automatically to every qualified beneficiary. The automatic annual recipients are distributees and permissible distributees; other qualified or nonqualified beneficiaries receive it by request. Also do not treat a vacancy as enough by itself: the former-trustee report applies only when no cotrustee remains in office.

The September 1, 2005 boundary matters. A modern-looking Arkansas trust-code form does not make subsections 813(a)-(c) govern an older irrevocable trust that the statute excludes. Finally, a report does not settle claims merely because it includes financial schedules; the one-year period needs both adequate claim disclosure and a notice stating the time allowed to sue.

Common questions

Does every beneficiary automatically receive the annual report?

No. Distributees and permissible distributees are automatic recipients. Another qualified or nonqualified beneficiary receives the report after requesting it.

May the trustee send the report electronically?

Yes. A properly directed electronic message is one listed method under § 28-73-109(a), provided it is reasonably suitable and likely to result in receipt.

Must an Arkansas trustee notarize or file the annual report in court?

Sections 28-73-109 and 28-73-813 impose neither formality for the ordinary beneficiary report. A court proceeding or separate settlement can create different procedural requirements.

Does an annual report automatically start the one-year claim period?

No. Section 28-73-1005 requires adequate disclosure of the potential claim and notice of the time allowed to commence a proceeding.

Statutes and sources

• Ark. Code Ann. §§ 28-73-103, 28-73-105, 28-73-109, 28-73-111, 28-73-603, 28-73-813, 28-73-1001, 28-73-1004, 28-73-1005, and 28-73-1009 — recipient definition, default-rule structure, delivery, settlement, revocable-settlor rule, reports, remedies, fees, claim periods, and releases. Official 2005 Act 1031: https://arkleg.state.ar.us/Home/FTPDocument?path=%2FACTS%2F2005%2FPublic%2FACT1031.pdf (accessed 2026-08-10).
• 2019 Ark. Act 1021, §§ 2-3 — current amendments to Ark. Code Ann. §§ 28-73-105(b)(2) and 28-73-603: https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Acts/FTPDocument?path=%2FACTS%2F2019R%2FPublic%2F&file=1021.pdf&ddBienniumSession=2019%2F2019R (accessed 2026-08-10).