Revocable Trust Amendment Requirements in District of Columbia

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Revocability and the March 2004 boundary

D.C. Code § 19-1306.02(a) generally permits the settlor to amend a trust unless its terms expressly provide that it is irrevocable. The subsection does not apply to a trust created under an instrument executed before March 10, 2004, so the current presumption cannot be projected onto an older instrument.

The District states no separate procedure for a complete restatement. Replacing all operative terms is a comprehensive amendment under the same power, method, capacity, co-settlor, agent, court-approval, notice, and trustee-protection rules.

Trust method and the nonexclusive-method alternatives

Under § 19-1306.02(c)(1), the settlor may amend by substantial compliance with a method provided in the trust. If the trust provides no method or does not expressly make its method exclusive, paragraph (2) supplies two alternatives.

The first is a later will or codicil that expressly refers to the trust or specifically devises property that otherwise would have passed under the trust. The second is any other method manifesting clear and convincing evidence of the settlor's intent. Omitting the specific-devise branch narrows the enacted will route.

Writing, signature, witnesses, notary, and delivery

The any-method alternative in § 19-1306.02(c)(2)(B) is not limited by the text to a signed writing or trustee delivery. The statute also states no universal witness, acknowledgment, or notarization requirement for every amendment.

A trust-specified method may add one or more formalities. A later will or codicil uses its separate execution law. Subsection (d), which orders delivery of trust property after revocation, is not an amendment-document delivery rule.

Capacity is will-level capacity

D.C. Code § 19-1306.01 makes amendment capacity the same as capacity to make a will. Under § 18-102, the person must be at least eighteen and, when executing or acknowledging the instrument, be of sound and disposing mind and capable of executing a valid deed or contract.

Multiple settlors and contributed property

Under § 19-1306.02(b), both spouses must act jointly to amend the community-property portion of a revocable trust. For property other than community property, each settlor may amend the portion attributable to that settlor's contribution.

When fewer than all settlors amend, the trustee must promptly notify the other settlors. This is a notice duty to other settlors, not a general beneficiary notice command.

Agent, conservator, and guardian

Under § 19-1306.02(e), an agent may exercise the settlor's amendment power only to the extent expressly authorized by the trust terms or the power of attorney. The statute uses “or”; it does not require both documents to contain an express grant.

Under subsection (f), a conservator needs approval from the court supervising the conservatorship. If no conservator has been appointed, a guardian may act only with approval from the court supervising the guardianship.

Effective time, notice, and trustee protection

For direct settlor action under subsection (c), the statute states no universal rule making the amendment operative only on trustee receipt or acceptance. The trust method or chosen alternative determines when its required acts are complete.

The trustee must promptly notify the other settlors when fewer than all act. Subsection (g) separately protects a trustee without knowledge of the amendment from liability to the settlor or successors for distributions and other actions taken on the assumption that the trust remained unamended.

What trips people up

• Applying the presumption to every older trust. Section 19-1306.02(a) does not apply to an instrument executed before March 10, 2004.
• Missing the specific-devise will route. A later will or codicil can qualify by expressly referring to the trust or by specifically devising property that otherwise would pass under it.
• Requiring writing and delivery for the any-method route. The text asks for clear and convincing evidence of intent, not those universal formalities.
• Demanding express agent authority in both documents. The trust or the power of attorney may supply it.
• Dropping part of the capacity test. Section 18-102 includes capability to execute a valid deed or contract as well as age and sound-and-disposing mind.

Common questions

May a will amend a D.C. revocable trust?

Yes, through the no-method or nonexclusive-method gateway, if the later will or codicil expressly refers to the trust or specifically devises property that otherwise would have passed under the trust.

Must the amendment be signed, witnessed, notarized, and delivered?

Section 19-1306.02 states no universal package of those formalities. The trust's method, a later will or codicil, or the clear-and-convincing alternative must be evaluated under the route actually used.

Can an agent amend the trust?

Only to the extent the trust terms or the power of attorney expressly authorizes the exercise. D.C. law does not impose a dual-document express grant.

Must the trustee accept the amendment?

Section 19-1306.02 states no universal acceptance requirement. Trustee knowledge matters to the subsection (g) liability safe harbor, and prompt notice is owed to other settlors when fewer than all amend.

Statutes and sources

• D.C. Code §§ 19-1306.01 and 18-102 — will-level amendment capacity and the full will-capacity test. Section 19-1306.01 and § 18-102 (accessed 2026-08-11).
• D.C. Code § 19-1306.02 — revocability, method and exclusivity, will and intent alternatives, co-settlors, agent authority, court-supervised fiduciaries, notice, and trustee protection. Official D.C. Law Library text (accessed 2026-08-11).