District of Columbia: Revocable Trust Amendment Requirements

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).