Kentucky: Revocable Trust Amendment Requirements
The short answer
Kentucky generally permits amendment unless the trust expressly says it is irrevocable, but that default does not apply to an instrument signed before July 15, 2014. The settlor may substantially comply with the trust's method or, unless that method is expressly exclusive, use a qualifying later will or codicil or another method manifesting clear and convincing evidence of intent. Current law also recognizes electronic trust-amendment records and signatures, while will capacity, contribution-based co-settlor rules, express power-of-attorney authority, a three-level court-supervised fiduciary hierarchy, prompt co-settlor notice, and a no-knowledge trustee safe harbor apply.
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This is the general rule in Kentucky. Ask about your specific facts and see which parts of current Kentucky law apply, with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law and revocability presumption | KRS § 386B.6-020(1); amendable unless terms expressly say irrevocable. Default excludes instruments signed before July 15, 2014 |
|---|---|
| Who may amend or restate | Settlor; expressly authorized agent; court-approved conservator, fallback guardian, or fallback curator. Restatement is comprehensive amendment |
| Trust method and exclusivity | Substantial compliance with trust method; statutory alternatives remain if method absent or not expressly exclusive (§ 386B.6-020(3)) |
| Alternative statutory method | If method absent/nonexclusive: qualifying later will/codicil or any other method manifesting clear-and-convincing intent (§ 386B.6-020(3)(b)) |
| Signature, witnesses, notary, and delivery | Trust method controls; no universal amendment writing, signature, witness, notary, or delivery rule. Current law recognizes electronic amendment records/signatures unless document precludes electronic use |
| Capacity standard | Same as will capacity: sound mind and age 18 or older (KRS § 386B.6-010; § 394.020) |
| Multiple settlors and contributed property | Community-property amendment requires joint spouses; other property follows each settlor's contribution; trustee promptly notifies other settlors when fewer than all act (§ 386B.6-020(2)) |
| Agent, guardian, conservator, and court authority | POA must expressly grant trust-amendment authority and trust must not prohibit. Conservator, then guardian, then curator may act with supervising-court approval unless trust provides otherwise |
| Effective time, notice, and trustee protection | Applicable method controls completion; no universal trustee-delivery condition. Prompt notice to other settlors when fewer than all act; trustee without knowledge is protected (§ 386B.6-020(2), (7)) |
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Requirements one by one
Governing law and revocability presumption
KRS § 386B.6-020(1) permits amendment unless the trust terms expressly provide
that the trust is irrevocable. The default does not apply to a trust created
under an instrument signed before July 15, 2014.
That date limits only the current statutory presumption. It does not itself
decide whether an older instrument reserved amendment power.
Who may amend or restate
The settlor is the ordinary actor. Subsections (5) and (6), read with the
current Power of Attorney Act, provide narrower routes for an expressly
authorized agent and a court-approved conservator, guardian, or curator.
Kentucky states no distinct restatement procedure. A complete restatement is a
comprehensive amendment and must satisfy the same authority, method, and intent
rules.
Trust method and exclusivity
The settlor may substantially comply with a method supplied by the trust. If
the trust provides no method or its method is not expressly exclusive, the two
statutory alternatives remain available.
Kentucky does not define a list of magic words for exclusivity. The instrument's
actual language determines whether it expressly closes the alternative route.
Alternative will or intent method
When the trust method is absent or nonexclusive, a later will or codicil may
qualify if it expressly refers to the trust or specifically devises property
that otherwise would have passed under the trust.
The other alternative is any method manifesting clear and convincing evidence
of the settlor's intent. The statute does not limit that second route to a
delivered paper writing.
Signature, witnesses, notary, electronic record, and delivery
The trust's own method controls any required signing, witnessing,
acknowledgment, notarization, or delivery. KRS § 386B.6-020 itself imposes no
universal amendment writing, settlor signature, witness, notary, trustee-
delivery, or trustee-acceptance condition.
Effective July 15, 2026, KRS § 394.720(5) expressly includes a record that
modifies a trust instrument or exercises a trust power requiring a signed
record within Kentucky's electronic nontestamentary estate-planning act. KRS § 394.724 and
§ 394.730 prevent denial of effect solely because the amendment record or
signature is electronic and make an electronic record or signature satisfy an
otherwise applicable writing or signature rule—unless the document itself
precludes electronic use.
Capacity standard
KRS § 386B.6-010 makes amendment capacity the same as will capacity. Under KRS
§ 394.020, the settlor must be at least eighteen years old and of sound mind.
The Trust Code does not say that a mere incapacity finding automatically makes
the trust irrevocable. Capacity and representative authority are separate
questions.
Multiple settlors and contributed property
For community property, both spouses must act jointly to amend. 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 others. The statute does not convert that duty into general beneficiary
notice.
Agent, guardian, conservator, curator, and court authority
Section 386B.6-020(5) refers to express authority in the trust or power of
attorney. The later Power of Attorney Act adds the current gate: KRS
§ 457.245(1)(a) requires the power of attorney itself to expressly grant
authority to amend an inter vivos trust, and the exercise cannot be prohibited
by the trust or another governing instrument.
Unless the trust provides otherwise, the court-supervised hierarchy is
conservator first, guardian if no conservator exists, and curator if neither
has been appointed. Each route requires approval of the court supervising that
fiduciary.
Effective time, notice, and trustee protection
The applicable trust method or statutory alternative determines completion.
Section 386B.6-020 states no universal delivery-to-trustee or trustee-acceptance
condition.
The trustee must promptly notify other settlors when fewer than all act. Under
subsection (7), a trustee who does not know about the amendment is not liable to
the settlor or successors for distributions or other actions taken on the
assumption that the old terms remain operative.
What trips people up
- Adding a delivery requirement to every route. Kentucky's statute does not
make trustee delivery universal, though the trust method may require it. - Using a general power of attorney. Current § 457.245 requires an express
POA grant for trust amendment and preserves prohibitions in the trust. - Stopping the fiduciary hierarchy at guardian. Kentucky adds a curator
fallback when neither conservator nor guardian exists. - Treating electronic execution as categorically invalid or categorically
mandatory. Current law recognizes it but lets the document preclude it and
does not force anyone to use it.
Common questions
Must a Kentucky trust amendment be witnessed or notarized?
Not under one universal amendment rule. The trust's method can require either,
and a will or another related instrument follows its own execution law.
Can a Kentucky trust amendment be electronic?
Yes, when the current electronic estate-planning act applies and the document
does not preclude electronic records or signatures. The electronic route does
not erase the trust's other method and authority requirements.
Does the trustee have to sign or accept the amendment?
Section 386B.6-020 does not impose a universal trustee-signature or acceptance
condition. The answer can change if the trust's own amendment method requires
an act by or delivery to the trustee.
Statutes and sources
- KRS §§ 386B.6-010–020 — capacity, revocability default, amendment
methods, co-settlors, agents, court-supervised fiduciaries, notice, and
trustee protection. Official Kentucky
statute
(accessed 2026-08-10). - KRS § 394.020 — will capacity. Official Kentucky
statute
(accessed 2026-08-10). - KRS § 457.245 — express power-of-attorney authority and instrument
prohibitions. Official Kentucky
statute
(accessed 2026-08-10). - KRS §§ 394.720, 394.724, and 394.730 — electronic trust-amendment record,
document opt-out, and electronic record/signature recognition. Official KRS
§ 394.720
and § 394.730
(accessed 2026-08-10).
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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