Trustee Notice to Beneficiaries Requirements in West Virginia

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Both clocks use a reasonable-time standard

West Virginia Code § 44D-8-813(b)(2) requires notice within a reasonable time after the trustee accepts office. The notice states the acceptance and gives the trustee's name, address, and telephone number.

Subdivision (b)(3) uses the same reasonable-time standard after the trustee acquires knowledge that an irrevocable trust was created or that a formerly revocable trust became irrevocable, whether by the grantor's death or otherwise. That notice identifies the trust and grantor and states the rights to request the trust instrument and a trustee's report.

The statute supplies no 30-day, 60-day, or 90-day ceiling. Whether timing was reasonable depends on the circumstances rather than a fixed number in this section.

Automatic recipients are current beneficiaries

Section 44D-1-103(7) defines a current beneficiary as a beneficiary who is presently a distributee or permissible distributee of trust income or principal. That class is narrower than the code's separate three-horizon qualified-beneficiary definition.

Section 44D-3-301(a) allows notice to operate through a person who may represent and bind another person under the code, giving it the same effect as direct notice to the represented person.

Trust terms may alter the initial notices

Section 44D-1-105(a) generally lets trust-instrument terms displace the code. Its complete mandatory list does not preserve § 44D-8-813's two initial notices, so those notices are default rules rather than nonmodifiable duties.

That does not erase the statutory baseline. Unless the trust terms provide otherwise, the reasonable-time notices, current-beneficiary class, and listed contents control.

Delivery turns on likely receipt

Section 44D-1-109(a) requires a reasonably suitable method 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.

Subsection (b) excuses notice to a person whose identity or location is unknown and not reasonably ascertainable. The cited provisions state no newspaper-publication fallback.

What trips people up

• “Reasonable time” is not a 60-day deadline. The statute uses no fixed day count for either initial notice.
• Current beneficiaries are not every qualified beneficiary. The automatic notices go to present distributees or permissible distributees, not automatically to next-line or termination-horizon beneficiaries.
• A compensation change is a separate notice. Section 44D-8-813(b)(4) requires reasonable advance notice of a compensation-method or rate change; it is not a third surveyed initial trigger.
• The legacy cutoff follows July 1, 2011. Subsection 44D-8-813(f) excludes an earlier acceptance, irrevocable-trust creation, or formerly revocable trust that became irrevocable before the chapter's effective date.

Common questions

Must the full trust instrument accompany the notice?

No. The irrevocability notice states the right to request it. Under § 44D-8-813(b)(1), the trustee must furnish a copy within a reasonable time after a beneficiary requests one.

May a beneficiary waive notice or information?

Yes. Section 44D-1-109(c) permits the person entitled to notice to waive it. Section 44D-8-813(d) separately permits waiver of reports or other information and allows withdrawal for future reports and information.

Who receives the trustee's duties while the trust remains revocable?

While the trust is revocable and the grantor has capacity to revoke it, § 44D-6-603(a) places beneficiary rights under the grantor's control and makes the trustee's duties run exclusively to the grantor.

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

The cited initial-notice and delivery sections require neither. They prescribe notice contents and a receipt-oriented delivery standard without a signature, notarization, adult-server, penalty-of-perjury declaration, or proof-of-service certificate.

Statutes and sources

• W. Va. Code § 44D-8-813(a)-(f) — reasonable-information duty, two initial notices, contents, reports, waiver, and legacy exclusions. West Virginia Legislature (accessed 2026-07-31).
• W. Va. Code § 44D-1-103(7) — current-beneficiary definition. West Virginia Legislature (accessed 2026-07-31).
• W. Va. Code § 44D-1-105(a)-(b) — trust-term control and complete mandatory- rule list. West Virginia Legislature (accessed 2026-07-31).
• W. Va. Code § 44D-1-109(a)-(c) — delivery, unknown recipients, and waiver. West Virginia Legislature (accessed 2026-07-31).
• W. Va. Code § 44D-3-301(a) — representation effect. West Virginia Legislature (accessed 2026-07-31).
• W. Va. Code § 44D-6-603(a) — revocable-grantor rule. West Virginia Legislature (accessed 2026-07-31).
• W. Va. Code § 44D-11-1105(a)(1), (5) — July 1, 2011 application and prior- act rule. West Virginia Legislature (accessed 2026-07-31).