Alaska: Revocable Trust Amendment Requirements

Requirements one by one

The presumption has a date and an Alaska nexus

Alaska Stat. § 13.36.338(a) generally makes a trust revocable unless it is
expressly made irrevocable, but only for a trust executed on or after August 30,
2000. Subsection (b) also requires one of three connections: the settlor was
domiciled in Alaska when the trust was created, the trust instrument was
executed in Alaska, or the trust provides that Alaska law governs.

The presumption therefore does not establish revocability for an older trust or
one lacking the stated nexus. The instrument must still be checked for its
actual terms and governing law.

Alaska supplies two amendment routes

Under § 13.36.340(a)(1), the settlor may amend by substantial compliance with a
method of modification provided in the trust instrument. Under paragraph (2),
the settlor may instead use a writing other than a will, signed by the settlor
and delivered to the trustee during the settlor's lifetime.

The last clause of paragraph (2) says an expressly exclusive revocation method
bars use of the paragraph to revoke. The enacted text does not state that an
expressly exclusive amendment method bars the paragraph's alternative amendment
route. The revocation-only wording should not be silently rewritten as an
amendment restriction.

Alaska states no separate complete-restatement procedure. A restatement must
fit an available amendment route and the scope of the amendment power.

Writing, signature, delivery, witnesses, and notary

The statutory alternative requires a nonwill writing, the settlor's signature,
and delivery to the trustee during the settlor's lifetime. It supplies no will,
codicil, or clear-and-convincing-intent fallback.

Section 13.36.340 states no universal witness, acknowledgment, or notarization
requirement. A trust-specified method may add one or more formalities. An
amendment also does not itself satisfy every deed, recording, account, or other
asset-transfer requirement.

Capacity has no amendment-specific statutory formula

The current AS 13.36.005–.390 ordinary-trust scheme states no direct-settlor
amendment-specific cognitive standard and does not direct courts to use will or
contract capacity. That statutory silence should not be converted into a claim
that capacity is unnecessary; the issue requires other applicable law.

Multiple settlors and community property

Unless the trust provides otherwise, § 13.36.340(b)(2) lets each settlor amend
the portion of noncommunity trust property that settlor contributed. It states
no prompt notice duty to the other settlors.

For community property, subsection (b)(1) sends the analysis to § 34.77.100. A
community property trust may be amended as its own agreement provides or by a
later community property trust. A community property trust must be signed by
both spouses, so the later-trust route carries that joint-signature rule. After
the first spouse's death, subsection (e) supplies a separate surviving-spouse
rule for the survivor's property unless the trust says otherwise.

Attorney-in-fact and trust protector

Under § 13.36.340(c), an attorney-in-fact may not amend the revocable trust
unless the trust instrument expressly permits the modification. Authority in a
power of attorney alone does not satisfy that trust-specific condition. The
instrument and other applicable agency law still require review for the scope
and method of the agent's exercise.

Section 13.36.370 separately permits the trust instrument to appoint a trust
protector and define the protector's powers. Listed possibilities include
amendments responding to tax or law changes, changing beneficiary interests,
and modifying a power of appointment, subject to the statute's limits. These
powers are instrument-defined, not automatic for every protector.

Court and conservator authority

Under § 13.26.435(3), after hearing and the required protective-order finding,
the court has the powers over a protected adult's estate and affairs that the
person could exercise if present and not under disability, except making a
will. Section 13.26.550 permits the court to confer those powers on a
conservator at appointment or later.

The amendment authority therefore depends on the court's protective power and
the power actually conferred or limited. The cited provisions state no parallel
general guardian route for amending the settlor's trust.

Effective time, notice, and trustee protection

For the signed-writing alternative, lifetime delivery to the trustee is part of
the statutory method. For substantial compliance with a trust-specified method,
the instrument determines the relevant acts; § 13.36.340 states no additional
universal trustee-acceptance rule.

The section also states no general beneficiary or other-settlor notice duty and
no no-knowledge liability safe harbor for a trustee. Those rules should not be
imported from another state's trust code or from Alaska statutes governing a
different trust transaction.

What trips people up

• Missing the nexus. The date alone is insufficient; one of § 13.36.338(b)'s
  three Alaska connections is also required.
• Changing “revocation” into “amendment.” The exclusive-method exception in
  § 13.36.340(a)(2) is written only for revocation.
• Using a will as the fallback. Alaska requires a signed nonwill writing for
  the statutory alternative.
• Letting a power of attorney stand alone. The trust instrument itself must
  expressly permit attorney-in-fact modification.
• Treating all co-settlor property alike. Noncommunity contributions and
  community-property trusts follow different rules.

Common questions

Must an Alaska amendment be delivered to the trustee?

Delivery during the settlor's lifetime is part of the signed-writing route in
§ 13.36.340(a)(2). A trust-method amendment instead turns on substantial
compliance with that method; the statute states no extra universal acceptance
requirement.

Must the settlor use witnesses or a notary?

Section 13.36.340 does not impose either universally. The trust's method or a
separate deed, recording document, or other instrument may have its own
formalities.

Can an attorney-in-fact sign?

Only if the trust instrument expressly permits modification by an
attorney-in-fact. The power of attorney alone does not satisfy § 13.36.340(c).

Can a conservator amend the trust?

The court may exercise the protected person's powers after the statutory
hearing and may confer those powers on a conservator under § 13.26.550. The
actual protective order and any limitations require review.

Statutes and sources

• Alaska Stat. §§ 13.36.338 and 13.36.340 — date and nexus, revocability,
  trust-method and signed-writing routes, delivery, multiple settlors, and
  attorney-in-fact permission. Official Legislature print
  text
  (accessed 2026-08-11).
• Alaska Stat. § 34.77.100 — community-property-trust execution and
  amendment. Official Legislature print
  text
  (accessed 2026-08-11).
• Alaska Stat. § 13.36.370 — instrument-defined trust-protector amendment
  powers and limits. Official Legislature print
  text
  (accessed 2026-08-11).
• Alaska Stat. §§ 13.26.435 and 13.26.550 — court protective powers and
  authority conferred on a conservator. Court powers
  and conservator powers
  (accessed 2026-08-11).