Trustee Notice to Beneficiaries Requirements in Kansas

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Kansas uses two default 60-day notices

K.S.A. 58a-813(b)(2) starts the acceptance clock when the trustee accepts office. Paragraph (b)(3) starts the irrevocability clock when the trustee acquires knowledge that an irrevocable trust was created or that a formerly revocable trust became irrevocable by the settlor's death or otherwise.

K.S.A. 58a-104 makes actual knowledge, received notice, or reason to know relevant and supplies an employee-responsibility rule when the trustee is an organization.

Qualified beneficiaries use only two horizons

K.S.A. 58a-103(12) includes a beneficiary eligible for mandatory or discretionary distributions now and one who would be eligible if the trust terminated immediately. Kansas does not include the separate next-line horizon found in the uniform definition.

Section 58a-110 gives qualified-beneficiary rights to specified charitable organizations, statutory purpose-trust enforcers, and the Kansas Attorney General for an in-state-administered charitable trust.

A surviving-spouse rule can narrow the class to one person

Section 58a-813(d) makes the entire section inapplicable to qualified beneficiaries other than the surviving spouse while the spouse is a qualified beneficiary or holds a power of appointment over the entire trust estate and all other qualified beneficiaries are the spouse's issue.

This is not merely a representation rule. In the stated family pattern, the nonspouse qualified beneficiaries do not receive the two initial notices under § 58a-813.

The notices have different content

The acceptance notice states the acceptance and supplies the trustee's name, address, and telephone number. The irrevocability notice states the trust's existence, identifies the settlor or settlors, and describes the rights to request relevant portions of the trust instrument and a trustee's report.

Advance notice of a change in the trustee's compensation method or rate is a separate duty. The initial notices do not require a trust date, tax identifier, amendment history, signature, oath, notarization, or proof of service.

Trust terms control and delivery includes electronic messages

K.S.A. 58a-105's mandatory list does not preserve § 58a-813. Subsection 58a-813(b) likewise begins “Except as otherwise provided under the terms of the trust,” so the initial duties are default rules.

Section 58a-109 permits any reasonably suitable method likely to result in receipt, including first-class mail, personal or last-known-address delivery, and a properly directed electronic message. Unknown or unlocatable persons need not receive notice when not reasonably ascertainable.

Effective July 1, 2026, HB 2590 § 11 also permits the governing instrument to restrict or eliminate a beneficiary's right to be informed for a period tied to age, a settlor's or spouse's lifetime, a term or date, or a certain event. Under HB 2590 § 10 and § 11(d), a designated representative ordinarily represents and binds that beneficiary during the restricted period unless the instrument says otherwise. The amendment to § 58a-813(a) expressly recognizes that route; it did not change either initial 60-day deadline or the notices' required contents. KS HB 2590 (2026), §§ 10, 11, 13, and 16 supply the definition, operative restriction rule, conforming amendment, and statute-book effective-date clause.

What trips people up

• Kansas has two recipient horizons, not three. The current definition is subsection (12), not the former subsection (13).
• The spouse exception applies to the whole section. It can remove the initial-notice duty to the spouse's issue while its conditions continue.
• The notices are modifiable. Kansas did not preserve § 58a-813 in its mandatory-rule list.
• The instrument-copy duty has its own wording. A specific request for the full instrument must be honored promptly; the “unless unreasonable” phrase belongs to the general information-response sentence, not paragraph (b)(1).
• The online compilation has not yet folded HB 2590. The enacted bill took effect with statute-book publication on July 1, 2026, so the enrolled act must be read with the still-unamended online § 58a-813 page.

Common questions

Must the full trust instrument accompany the notice?

No. The irrevocability notice states the right to request relevant portions. A qualified beneficiary may specifically request the full instrument under § 58a-813(b)(1).

Can a beneficiary waive reports or information?

Yes. Subsection (c) permits waiver and prospective withdrawal. Neither it nor § 58a-109(c) says the waiver must be signed or written.

Which older trusts are covered?

Section 58a-1106 generally applies the code to trusts created before, on, or after January 1, 2003, but an act done before that effective date is not affected. Section 58a-813 has no separate trust-date cutoff.

Statutes and sources

• K.S.A. 58a-103 through 58a-110 — two-horizon definition, knowledge, trust-term control, delivery, waiver, and special recipients. Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes (accessed 2026-07-31).
• K.S.A. 58a-603, 58a-813, and 58a-1106 — revocable-settlor rule, two notices, contents, reporting, waiver, spouse/issue exception, and general application rule. Kansas Legislature (accessed 2026-07-31).
• 2026 HB 2590 §§ 10, 11, 13, and 16 — current designated-representative and governing-instrument amendments, effective with statute-book publication on July 1, 2026. Kansas Legislature (accessed 2026-08-08).