New Hampshire: Trustee Notice to Beneficiaries Requirements

Requirements one by one

The acceptance clock waits for the later event

RSA § 564-B:8-813(c)(2) measures 60 days from the later of the trustee's
acceptance or the death of the last surviving settlor. A trustee who accepted while a
settlor remained alive does not calculate the statutory deadline from acceptance alone.

The notice goes to qualified beneficiaries age 21 or older and people who have the
rights of a qualified beneficiary. It states the acceptance and gives the trustee's
name, address, and telephone number.

Irrevocability requires funding and the last settlor's death

For a trust created as irrevocable, § 564-B:8-813(c)(3) requires knowledge of the
creation, initial funding, and the death of the last surviving settlor. For a formerly
revocable trust, it requires knowledge that the trust became irrevocable, was initially
funded, and that the last surviving settlor died.

The notice is due no later than 60 days after the trustee acquires the required
knowledge. It states the trust's existence and the rights to request a full copy of the
trust instrument and a trustee's report. Unlike many UTC versions, it does not list
settlor identity as required content.

Age 21 narrows the automatic class

Section 564-B:1-103(12) uses the familiar three horizons: present distributees,
next-line distributees if current interests ended without terminating the trust, and
termination distributees.

Section 564-B:8-813 adds an age threshold. The two notices go automatically to
qualified beneficiaries who have attained 21 and to people having qualified-
beneficiary rights. Section 564-B:1-109(e) also makes notice to a minor or
incapacitated person ineffective unless sent to a person who can represent and bind
that person.

The irrevocability notice starts a three-year contest period

RSA § 564-B:4-406(b)(2) expressly measures one trust-validity period from the
§ 564-B:8-813(c)(3) notice. For an irrevocable or formerly revocable trust, a validity
contest must be commenced within the earlier applicable period, including three years
after that initial notice was sent.

That is different from the optional 180-day notice in § 564-B:4-406(b)(3), which
requires a copy of the trust instrument and its own contest warning.

Delivery includes commercial and courier service

Section 564-B:1-109(a) requires a reasonably suitable method likely to result in
receipt. Its examples include first-class mail, personal delivery, commercial delivery
service, courier service, last-known-address delivery, and a properly directed
electronic message.

The person entitled to notice may waive it. The initial notices are also default rules:
§ 564-B:1-105's complete mandatory list does not preserve § 564-B:8-813.

What trips people up

• Current paragraphs are in subsection (c), not subsection (b). Later amendments
  shifted the section's architecture and added more specific triggers.
• Initial funding is a required fact. Creation or irrevocability alone does not
  complete the statutory trigger.
• The copy-on-request duty means the full trust instrument. Section
  564-B:8-813(c)(1) does not authorize substituting only excerpts that describe the
  recipient's interest.
• Compensation notice runs after the change. Subsection (i) requires notice no
  later than 60 days after a compensation-method or rate change, rather than advance
  notice.
• A corporate reorganization is expressly excused. A mere name change, merger,
  consolidation, combination, or reorganization of a corporate trustee does not
  require the acceptance notice.

Common questions

Can the trust terms change the two initial notices?

Yes. Section 564-B:1-105 generally lets trust terms prevail, and its mandatory list
does not include § 564-B:8-813. The statutory notices are the default when the trust
terms do not provide otherwise.

May the trustee protect confidential asset information?

Yes. Section 564-B:8-813(j) permits a trustee bound by written asset-confidentiality
restrictions to require an eligible beneficiary to agree in writing to the same
restrictions before receiving information about that asset.

Does the notice need a trustee signature or sworn proof of service?

The cited initial-notice and delivery provisions require neither. They state the
contents and delivery methods without a signature, notarization, adult-server,
penalty-of-perjury declaration, or proof-of-service certificate.

Statutes and sources

• RSA § 564-B:8-813(a)-(j) — age-21 information duty, two initial notices,
  triggers, contents, reports, waiver, legacy limits, compensation, and confidentiality.
  New Hampshire General Court
  (accessed 2026-07-31).
• RSA § 564-B:1-103(12) — qualified-beneficiary definition. New Hampshire
  General Court (accessed
  2026-07-31).
• RSA § 564-B:1-105(a)-(b) — trust-term control and complete mandatory-rule
  list. New Hampshire General
  Court (accessed
  2026-07-31).
• RSA § 564-B:1-109(a)-(e) — delivery, waiver, unknown recipients, and
  representation requirement for minors and incapacitated people. New Hampshire
  General Court (accessed
  2026-07-31).
• RSA § 564-B:3-301(a) — representation effect. New Hampshire General
  Court (accessed
  2026-07-31).
• RSA § 564-B:4-406(b)(2) — three-year trust-validity period tied to the
  irrevocability notice. New Hampshire General
  Court (accessed
  2026-07-31).