Revocable Living Trust Creation Requirements in Utah

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law and scope

Utah Code Title 75B, Chapter 2 is Utah's current Uniform Trust Code. Its creation, revocable-trust, trustee-office, jurisdiction, and certification parts govern the ordinary adult revocable living trust covered here.

This page keeps trust creation separate from tax planning, creditor and public- benefit effects, specialized trusts, wills, post-death administration, and the separate transfer needed for each asset.

Settlor capacity and intent

Utah Code § 75B-2-402 and § 75B-2-601 apply the will-capacity standard to creating, amending, revoking, or adding property to a revocable trust. Under § 75-2-501, the individual must be at least 18, identify family or other people in the individual's life, understand those relationships and the nature and extent of the individual's property, and be able to form a disposition plan.

Capacity alone is insufficient. Section 75B-2-402 also requires the settlor to indicate an intention to create the trust, unless a statute, judgment, or decree authorizes its creation.

Creation method and effective time

Utah Code § 75B-2-401 permits a lifetime or death-effective transfer to another person as trustee, an owner's declaration that the owner holds identifiable property as trustee, or exercise of a power of appointment in favor of a trustee.

If another person is designated trustee, § 75B-2-701 recognizes the acceptance method in the trust. If no method is supplied or it is not exclusive, accepting delivery, exercising trustee powers, performing trustee duties, or other acceptance conduct can suffice.

Trust property and funding

Section 75B-2-401's transfer route requires property to pass to another trustee. Its declaration route instead requires identifiable property that the owner already holds as trustee. The section states no universal nominal-dollar minimum.

The chosen creation route does not eliminate asset-specific transfer law. A signed trust does not itself replace every deed, assignment, delivery, or account registration.

Beneficiary and purpose

Utah Code §§ 75B-2-402 and 75B-2-404 require a definite beneficiary or one of the listed statutory exceptions and a lawful, public-policy-compliant, and achievable purpose. A beneficiary may be ascertainable now or in the future, and a trustee may hold a valid selection power over an indefinite class. The trust and its terms must benefit its beneficiaries.

Trustee eligibility and same-person roles

Section 75B-2-402 requires the trustee to have duties and bars the same person from being both sole trustee and sole beneficiary. It does not prevent the settlor from serving as trustee and beneficiary when another present or future beneficiary keeps those roles from being sole and identical.

A separately designated trustee accepts or rejects the office under § 75B-2-701.

Instrument, signature, witness, and notary

Utah Code § 75B-2-407 permits an oral trust unless another statute requires a different form. Creation and terms of an oral trust require clear and convincing evidence. The cited trust-creation provisions impose no universal witness or notary ceremony on an ordinary personal-property trust.

A trust concerning a home is different. Utah Code § 25-5-1 requires a deed or conveyance in writing subscribed by the person creating, granting, assigning, surrendering, or declaring the real-property trust or interest, or by an agent whose authority is written.

Revocability default and reserved power

Utah Code § 75B-2-602 makes a trust revocable unless its terms expressly say it is irrevocable. That default does not apply to an instrument executed before May 1, 2004. For multiple settlors, the statute allocates revocation and amendment powers by community-property status and contribution.

The settlor may substantially comply with the trust's method. If the method is missing or not exclusive, the statute also recognizes a later will or codicil that expressly refers to the trust or specifically devises affected property, or another method proving intent by clear and convincing evidence. An agent needs express authority in the trust or power of attorney; a conservator or guardian needs court approval.

Registration, recording, and third-party effect

Utah Code § 75B-2-201 says a trust proceeding does not create continuing court supervision and that administration ordinarily proceeds without court order or intervention. The creation provisions impose no court-registration filing. Utah Code § 75B-2-1013 instead permits a trustee to furnish a certification without disclosing dispositive terms, and protects good-faith reliance on it.

A home conveyance remains a separate land-record instrument. Utah Code §§ 57-3-101 through 57-3-103 make a properly acknowledged or otherwise certified document recordable in the county where the property is located. Sections 57-3-102 and 57-3-103 make recording notice and protect a later good-faith purchaser for value whose document is first recorded; § 57-3-105 requires the grantee name, assessment address, and legal description for a title conveyance presented for recording.

What trips people up

Oral does not mean easy to prove. Utah allows an oral personal-property trust only under a clear-and-convincing evidence standard, and another statute can still require a writing.

The settlor can occupy several roles, but not every sole role. A settlor can be trustee and current beneficiary when another present or future beneficiary exists. Section 75B-2-402 bars one person from being both sole trustee and sole beneficiary.

The revocable default has a historical cutoff. The statutory default does not apply to an instrument executed before May 1, 2004.

A trust schedule is not a universal transfer device. Real-property trust interests require the subscribed writing in § 25-5-1, and priority against later purchasers depends on the separate recordable instrument and county recording.

Common questions

Does a Utah living trust need witnesses or notarization?

Not universally under the cited trust-creation statutes. Section 75B-2-407 even allows an oral trust when no other statute requires form, subject to clear-and- convincing proof. A real-property trust needs a subscribed writing, and an acknowledgment or other qualifying certificate makes the land document recordable.

Can the Utah settlor be trustee and beneficiary?

Yes, so long as the same person is not both sole trustee and sole beneficiary. A valid remainder or other beneficiary can keep the beneficial ownership from being held solely by the settlor-trustee.

Must a Utah living trust be registered with a court?

The cited creation provisions impose no registration filing. Section 75B-2-201 says administration ordinarily proceeds free of court intervention, although an interested party may invoke the court's trust jurisdiction.

Is a new Utah trust revocable automatically?

Ordinarily yes: § 75B-2-602 makes it revocable unless expressly irrevocable. That default does not apply to an instrument executed before May 1, 2004.

Does listing a home on Schedule A transfer it to the trust?

Do not assume so. Section 25-5-1 requires a subscribed writing for a trust or power concerning real property, and a separate conveyance must meet the recording rules if it is to protect priority against later purchasers.

Statutes and sources

• Utah Code §§ 75B-2-401, 75B-2-402, 75B-2-404, and 75B-2-407 — creation methods and elements, same-person roles, purpose, and oral proof. Accessed July 30, 2026.
• Utah Code §§ 75B-2-601 and 75B-2-602 and § 75-2-501 — capacity, revocability, and revocation or amendment methods. Accessed July 30, 2026.
• Utah Code § 75B-2-701, § 75B-2-201, and § 75B-2-1013 — trustee acceptance, court role, and certification. Accessed July 30, 2026.
• Utah Code § 25-5-1 and §§ 57-3-101 through 57-3-105 — real-property writing, recordability, notice, priority, and recording fields. Accessed July 30, 2026.