Trustee Notice to Beneficiaries Requirements in Alaska

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Alaska has one 30-day initial notice

AS 13.36.080(a)(1) starts the clock when the trustee accepts the trust. Within 30 days, the trustee informs the statutory recipients in writing of the registration court and the trustee's name and address.

The section does not create a separate notice after a settlor's death, creation of an irrevocable trust, or knowledge that a formerly revocable trust became irrevocable. Requests for information and a change of trustee appear elsewhere in subsection (a), but they are not additional initial-notice triggers.

Recipients are current beneficiaries and future-interest representatives

The trustee informs current beneficiaries. If possible, the trustee also informs one or more persons who under AS 13.06.120 may represent beneficiaries with future interests.

This is not a UTC qualified-beneficiary class reaching three distribution horizons. The separate representation statute permits a designated person to receive notice, information, accountings, and reports for a born or unborn beneficiary, subject to its stated role and conflict limits.

The contents are tied to registration

The initial notice identifies the court in which the trust is registered and gives the trustee's name and address. Section 13.36.005 separately requires a trust principally administered in Alaska to register at its principal place of administration, subject to the retained-foreign-jurisdiction exception.

The initial-notice provision does not require the settlor's identity, trust name or date, tax number, principal-place address, DAPT status, trust-protector information, or a summary of later information and accounting rights.

The settlor exemption is limited

The settlor may exempt notice or information only for a beneficiary who is not entitled to mandatory income or principal distributions annually or more often. The exemption must use one of the writings listed in subsection (b).

It ends at the earlier of the settlor's death or a judicial incapacity determination. An exempt future-interest beneficiary who receives a distribution gets information for that accounting period; one who becomes an annual-or-more-frequent mandatory distributee receives the statutory notification and information.

The initial notice has no specified service machinery

Section 13.36.080(a)(1) requires writing but states no mandatory mail class, personal service, electronic method, completion rule, publication, or proof filing.

AS 13.06.110 should not be imported. Its opening words limit its certified/registered/ first-class mail, personal delivery, publication, and proof rules to notice of a hearing on a petition.

What trips people up

• Irrevocability is not a second initial trigger. Alaska's clock runs from acceptance of the trust.
• The notice names a court, not a principal place of administration. The required content is the court in which the trust is registered plus trustee name and address.
• A “trust not registered” option conflicts with the Alaska-administered-trust premise. Section 13.36.005 makes registration mandatory when Alaska is the principal place of administration, subject to its foreign-court exception.
• Hearing notice rules are not initial-notice rules. Section 13.06.110's publication and proof provisions attach to a petition hearing.

Common questions

Must the notice use certified mail?

Section 13.36.080 requires written notice but does not prescribe certified mail. Certified-mail language in § 13.06.110 belongs to hearing notice.

May the settlor make the trust completely silent for life?

Only within subsection (b)'s limits. The exemption is unavailable for a beneficiary entitled to mandatory distributions annually or more often, and it cannot last beyond the earlier of settlor death or a judicial incapacity determination.

Must the notice describe the beneficiary's interest?

The initial contents do not include that description. Upon reasonable request, subsection (a)(2) separately requires the trust terms describing or affecting the beneficiary's interest and relevant administration information.

Statutes and sources

• AS 13.36.080(a)-(c) — 30-day notice, recipients, contents, request rights, and settlor exemption. Alaska Legislature (accessed 2026-07-31).
• AS 13.36.005(a)-(b) — mandatory registration at the Alaska principal place of administration and foreign-court exception. Alaska Legislature (accessed 2026-07-31).
• AS 13.06.120(a)(2)(G), (3) — designated representation for notice and information. Alaska Legislature (accessed 2026-07-31).
• AS 13.06.110(a)-(c) — separate notice methods for hearings on petitions. Alaska Legislature (accessed 2026-07-31).