Utah: Trustee Notice to Beneficiaries Requirements
The short answer
Utah supplies two default notices to qualified beneficiaries, each within 60 days: one after accepting the trusteeship and another after the trustee learns that an irrevocable trust was created or a formerly revocable trust became irrevocable. The acceptance notice gives trustee contact information; the creation-or-irrevocability notice gives trust existence, settlor identity, and rights to request affected trust portions and a report. The trust terms may change or eliminate these default duties, Utah's qualified-beneficiary definition uses only current and trust-termination distributees, and electronic notice does not require advance consent under the current statute.
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This is the general rule in Utah. Ezel applies current Utah law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law and initial-notice duty | Utah Code §§ 75B-2-105, 75B-2-811; two default notices fully subject to contrary trust terms |
|---|---|
| Triggering events and knowledge rule | Acceptance of trusteeship; knowledge of irrevocable trust's creation; knowledge that a formerly revocable trust became irrevocable, by death or otherwise (§ 75B-2-811(2)(b)-(c)) |
| Recipients and beneficiary class | Qualified beneficiaries only: current distributees/permissible distributees and persons who would distribute if the trust terminated that day; no separate next-line horizon (§ 75B-2-103(8)) |
| Deadline after acceptance | Default: within 60 days after accepting the trusteeship; trust terms may provide otherwise (§ 75B-2-811(2)(b)) |
| Deadline after creation or irrevocability | Default: within 60 days after trustee acquires knowledge of creation or irrevocability; trust terms may provide otherwise (§ 75B-2-811(2)(c)) |
| Required notice contents | Acceptance: acceptance + trustee name/address/phone. Irrevocability: existence, settlor(s), copy right, report right (§ 75B-2-811(2)(b)-(c)) |
| Delivery, service, and publication | Method reasonably suitable and likely to result in receipt; first-class mail, personal/last-known-address delivery, or properly directed electronic message; no advance-consent, unknown-recipient, or publication rule stated (§ 75B-2-109(1)) |
| Waiver, modification, and confidentiality | Trust terms may change all § 75B-2-811 duties; recipient may waive notice; qualified beneficiary may waive reports/information and withdraw for future items (§§ 75B-2-105, 75B-2-109(2), 75B-2-811(4)) |
| Legacy exceptions and notice consequences | No section-specific legacy date, initial-notice penalty, or contest warning stated; while revocable/capable, beneficiary rights are controlled by and duties owed exclusively to settlor (§§ 75B-2-603(2), 75B-2-811) |
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Requirements one by one
Utah's two 60-day notices are default rules
Utah Code § 75B-2-811(2)(b) starts the first 60-day clock when the trustee
accepts the trusteeship. The notice states the acceptance and gives the
trustee's name, address, and telephone number.
Subdivision (2)(c) starts a separate 60-day clock when the trustee acquires
knowledge that an irrevocable trust was created or that a formerly revocable
trust became irrevocable, whether because the settlor died or otherwise. That
notice states the trust's existence, identifies the settlor or settlors, and
states the rights to request the trust instrument and a trustee's report.
Both duties begin with the phrase “except to the extent the terms of the trust
provide otherwise.” Section 75B-2-105's mandatory list does not preserve the
initial notices from contrary trust terms.
The qualified-beneficiary definition has only two horizons
Section 75B-2-103(8) includes a current distributee or permissible distributee
and a person who would distribute if the trust terminated on the determination
date. Utah does not add the usual separate class for a person who would take if
the current distributees' interests ended without terminating the trust.
That narrower definition controls the default recipient class in § 75B-2-811.
The cited notice sections do not add a separate requesting-beneficiary,
charitable-organization, attorney-general, or animal-trust-enforcer recipient
rule.
Instrument and report rights are request-based and limited
Under § 75B-2-811(2)(a), a qualified beneficiary who asks receives the portions
of the trust instrument that describe or affect that beneficiary's interest.
The statute does not promise an automatic complete copy including every
amendment.
Subsection (3)(a) also makes reports request-based for qualified beneficiaries.
The report includes trust property, liabilities, receipts and disbursements,
compensation information, an asset list, and market values if feasible.
Electronic delivery does not have an advance-consent condition
Section 75B-2-109(1) requires a method reasonably suitable and likely to result
in receipt. It lists first-class mail, personal delivery, delivery to the last
known residence or business, and a properly directed electronic message.
Unlike some states, the current Utah provision does not condition electronic
delivery on advance consent. It also states no special unknown-recipient excuse
or newspaper-publication fallback.
What trips people up
- The trust terms control the notice architecture. Utah did not place the
§ 75B-2-811 duties in § 75B-2-105's nonmodifiable list. - Acceptance does not use a knowledge trigger. The first clock runs after
acceptance itself; knowledge belongs to the creation-or-irrevocability clock. - A full instrument is not the statutory request measure. The operative
phrase is the portions that describe or affect the beneficiary's interest. - The section states no legacy cutoff or initial-notice consequence. It does
not tie a missed initial notice to a contest deadline, limitation period,
automatic surcharge, or removal.
Common questions
Can the trust instrument eliminate both 60-day notices?
Yes under the cited default-rule structure. Section 75B-2-811 repeatedly makes
the duties subject to contrary trust terms, and § 75B-2-105 does not list those
notice duties among the protected exceptions.
Does every qualified beneficiary automatically receive annual reports?
No. Section 75B-2-811(3)(a) requires reports for qualified beneficiaries who
request them.
May a recipient waive notice?
Yes. Section 75B-2-109(2) permits waiver by the person entitled to notice.
Section 75B-2-811(4) separately permits waiver of reports or other information
and withdrawal for future items.
Statutes and sources
- Utah Code § 75B-2-811(1)-(4) — information duties, two default notices,
contents, request-based instrument portions and reports, and waiver. Utah
Legislature
(accessed 2026-07-31). - Utah Code § 75B-2-103(8) — two-horizon qualified-beneficiary definition.
Utah Legislature
(accessed 2026-07-31). - Utah Code § 75B-2-105(1)-(2) — trust-term control and the mandatory-rule
list. Utah Legislature
(accessed 2026-07-31). - Utah Code § 75B-2-109(1)-(3) — delivery methods and notice waiver. Utah
Legislature
(accessed 2026-07-31). - Utah Code § 75B-2-603(2)-(3) — settlor control and exclusive duties while
the trust remains revocable and the settlor has capacity. Utah
Legislature
(accessed 2026-07-31).
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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