Revocable Trust Amendment Requirements in Arkansas

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law and revocability presumption

Ark. Code Ann. § 28-73-602(a) permits the settlor to revoke or amend unless the trust terms expressly make the trust irrevocable. That default does not apply to a trust created under an instrument executed before September 1, 2005, so the date boundary must be checked before relying on the statute's presumption.

Who may amend or restate

The settlor is the ordinary actor under § 28-73-602. Sections 28-73-601(b) and 28-73-602(e) add an agent route, while § 28-73-602(f) adds court-supervised conservator and fallback-guardian routes.

Arkansas states no distinct complete-restatement procedure. A restatement that replaces all operative terms is a comprehensive amendment and must satisfy the same power, method, capacity, and co-settlor rules.

Trust method and exclusivity

Section 28-73-602(c)(1) accepts substantial compliance with a method supplied by the trust. Exact duplication of every step is not the statutory phrase, but the completed acts still must substantially comply with the chosen method.

If the trust states no method or does not expressly make its method exclusive, the alternatives in subsection (c)(2) remain available. Merely stating a method is not the same as expressly making it exclusive.

Alternative statutory method

The first alternative is a later will or codicil that either expressly refers to the trust or specifically devises property that otherwise would have passed under the trust. The text uses "or" between those connections; it does not require both in every case.

The second alternative is any other method manifesting clear and convincing evidence of the settlor's intent. That is an evidentiary route, not a rule that every amendment must use a particular form.

Signature, witnesses, notary, and delivery

Section 28-73-602(c) states no universal amendment signature, witness, acknowledgment, notarization, trustee-signature, acceptance, or delivery rule. Substantial compliance with the trust's method requires the steps that method supplies. A later will or codicil must be executed as that instrument, while another method must carry the required clear-and-convincing proof of intent.

Subsection (d)'s direction to deliver trust property applies upon revocation. It is not a rule requiring delivery of every amendment document to the trustee.

Capacity standard

Ark. Code Ann. § 28-73-601(a) makes amendment capacity the same as the capacity required to make a will. The Trust Code does not replace that reference with a separate amendment-only cognitive test.

For an agent, subsection (b) shifts the relevant time. The power of attorney must expressly grant authority for the action, and the settlor must have had capacity to take that action when the power of attorney was executed.

Multiple settlors and contributed property

For community property in a multi-settlor trust, both spouses must act jointly to amend even though either spouse may revoke alone. For other property, each settlor may amend the portion attributable to that settlor's contribution.

When fewer than all settlors revoke or amend, the trustee must promptly notify the other settlors. This is a statutory notice duty, not merely a recommended receipt practice.

Agent, guardian, conservator, and court authority

The 2021 amendment to § 28-73-601 requires express authority in the power of attorney and settlor capacity at the time that power was executed. Section 28-73-602(e) separately limits the exercised power to the extent expressly authorized by the trust or power. Read together, general agency language is not enough, and the trust can still limit the extent of the action.

A conservator may exercise the settlor's amendment power only with approval of the supervising court. If no conservator has been appointed, a guardian may use the same court-approval route. Appointment alone does not complete an amendment.

Effective time, notice, and trustee protection

The amendment becomes operative when the selected trust method or available statutory alternative is completed. Section 28-73-602 adds prompt notice to other settlors when fewer than all act, but it states no general lifetime beneficiary-notice requirement.

The trustee's knowledge matters separately. Under subsection (g), a trustee who does not know of the amendment is not liable to the settlor or the settlor's successors for distributions and other actions taken on the assumption that the old terms still governed.

What trips people up

• Treating a stated method as automatically exclusive. The statutory alternatives close only when the trust expressly makes its method exclusive.
• Requiring both will connections. A later will or codicil may expressly refer to the trust or specifically devise the property that otherwise would pass under it.
• Using only general POA language. Current § 28-73-601(b) requires the power of attorney expressly to authorize the trust action.
• Forgetting the nonacting settlors. When fewer than all act, the trustee has a prompt statutory notice duty to the others.

Common questions

Must an Arkansas trust amendment be signed, witnessed, or notarized?

Not under one universal Trust Code rule. The chosen route controls: the trust's method may require those acts, a will or codicil follows its own execution law, and another method needs clear and convincing evidence of amendment intent.

Must the amendment be delivered to or accepted by the trustee?

Section 28-73-602(c) does not make trustee delivery or acceptance universal. The trust's own method may require delivery. The statute's express delivery command in subsection (d) concerns trust property after revocation.

Can a guardian amend the trust?

Only if no conservator has been appointed and the court supervising the guardianship approves the exercise under § 28-73-602(f).

Statutes and sources

• Ark. Code Ann. § 28-73-601 — will-level settlor capacity and the current express-POA and capacity-at-execution agent rule. Official Arkansas 2021 Act 804 (accessed 2026-08-10).
• Ark. Code Ann. § 28-73-602 — revocability, pre-2005 boundary, co-settlors, substantial compliance, alternatives, agent and fiduciary authority, notice, and trustee protection. Official Arkansas 2005 Act 1031 (accessed 2026-08-10; current compiled text and later amendment sweep checked).