Revocable Trust Amendment Requirements in Montana

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Revocability and the pre-1989 boundary

Mont. Code Ann. § 72-38-602(1) 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 October 1, 1989, so the current presumption cannot be projected onto an older instrument.

Montana states no separate procedure for a complete restatement. Replacing all operative terms is a comprehensive amendment under the same reserved-power, method, capacity, co-settlor, and fiduciary-authority rules.

Trust method and the no-method fallback

Under § 72-38-602(3)(a), the settlor may amend by substantial compliance with a method provided in the trust. The statutory fallback is narrower than the common rule that preserves another route whenever a trust method is not expressly exclusive. Montana's subsection (3)(b) applies only "if the terms of the trust do not provide a method."

When that condition is met, the fallback requires a writing delivered to the trustee that manifests clear and convincing evidence of the settlor's intent. The statute supplies no later-will, codicil, oral, or general any-method route.

Writing, signature, witnesses, notary, and delivery

The no-method fallback requires a writing and delivery to the trustee. Section 72-38-602 states no universal signature, witness, acknowledgment, notarization, or particular delivery-means requirement for that writing. A method stated in the trust may add one or more execution steps, and substantial compliance with that method remains the controlling statutory route when a method exists.

Section 72-38-602(4) directs delivery of trust property after revocation. It is not a separate amendment-document delivery rule. An amendment also does not by itself complete a deed, account retitling, or another asset-transfer formality.

Capacity

Mont. Code Ann. § 72-38-601 makes amendment capacity the same as capacity to make a will. Mont. Code Ann. § 72-2-521 permits an individual who is eighteen or older and of sound mind to make a will.

Multiple settlors and contributed property

Section 72-38-602(2) requires joint action by both parties to amend the community-property portion of a 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 provide notice to the other settlors. That is a notice duty to the other settlors, not a general beneficiary-notice command.

Agent, guardian, conservator, and court approval

Under § 72-38-602(5), an agent may exercise the settlor's amendment power only to the extent expressly authorized by both the trust terms and the power of attorney. Express authority in only one document does not satisfy the text.

Under subsection (6), a conservator may act only with approval from the court supervising the conservatorship. If no conservator has been appointed, a guardian may exercise the same power only with approval from the court supervising the guardianship.

Effective time, notice, and trustee protection

For the no-method fallback, delivery of the writing to the trustee is part of the statutory method. When the trust supplies a method, the statute instead asks whether the settlor substantially complied with it and states no universal trustee-delivery or acceptance rule.

The trustee must promptly notify other settlors when fewer than all act. Section 72-38-602(7) separately protects a trustee without knowledge of the amendment from liability for distributions and other actions taken on the assumption that the trust remained unamended.

What trips people up

• Using the fallback merely because a trust method is nonexclusive. Montana makes the delivered-writing route available only when the trust provides no method.
• Signing a writing but not delivering it. Delivery to the trustee is part of the no-method fallback.
• Demanding a notary or witnesses in every case. Section 72-38-602 states no universal requirement for either, although the trust's method may.
• Giving an agent authority from only one document. The trust and the power of attorney must both expressly authorize the agent's exercise of the power.
• Missing the other-settlor notice. When fewer than all settlors amend, the trustee must promptly notify the others.

Common questions

May a will amend a Montana revocable trust?

Section 72-38-602 does not provide a will or codicil fallback. A trust method could make a will relevant, but the statutory no-method route itself requires a writing delivered to the trustee.

Must the amendment be signed or notarized?

The trust's method controls when one exists. For the statutory no-method route, § 72-38-602 requires a delivered writing manifesting clear and convincing evidence of intent but states no separate universal signature or notary rule.

Can an agent amend the trust?

Only to the extent both the trust and the power of attorney expressly authorize the agent to exercise the settlor's amendment power.

Must the trustee accept the amendment?

Section 72-38-602 states no universal trustee-acceptance requirement. Delivery is part of the no-method fallback, and trustee knowledge matters to the liability safe harbor.

Statutes and sources

• Mont. Code Ann. §§ 72-38-601 and 72-2-521 — will-level amendment capacity and the age-and-sound-mind baseline. Section 72-38-601 and section 72-2-521 (accessed 2026-08-11).
• Mont. Code Ann. § 72-38-602 — revocability, methods, delivered writing, co-settlors, agent authority, court-supervised fiduciaries, notice, and trustee protection. Official Montana Legislature text (accessed 2026-08-11).