Revocable Trust Amendment Requirements in Kentucky

At a glance

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).