Trust amendment form: How to change your trust

Your life and circumstances change over time, from the assets you own to the people you spend time with. When these changes happen, you may want them reflected in your estate planning documents. If you’ve created a trust, this might mean filling out a trust amendment form.

A trust amendment form is one of a few ways you can update your trust document. This form allows you to make specific changes that won't affect your trust as a whole, such as adding a beneficiary or editing a certain provision. Depending on the type of trust you have and the changes you want to make, a trust amendment form can be a quick, simple way to make changes to your trust.

What is a trust?

In estate planning, a trust is a legal arrangement you can use to pass on your property and assets after you die. If you decide to create a trust, you'll make many decisions. This includes nominating a trustee to manage the trust and choosing beneficiaries to receive your assets. Your beneficiaries can be individuals — like family members and friends — and organizations, like a favorite charity.

Trusts generally fall into one of two categories: revocable and irrevocable trusts. Revocable living trusts (RLTs) are a common and popular type of trust because they’re the most flexible. You can make changes to an RLT at any point during your lifetime, which is especially helpful if there’s a change in your situation or estate planning goals.

An irrevocable trust, on the other hand, can’t be as easily altered once it’s created. In addition to filling out an amendment form, you may need permission from your local court. In some cases, you’ll also need all of the beneficiaries to agree on changes before they can be made.

What is a trust amendment form?

A trust amendment form is a legal document you use to make changes to your revocable trust. It isn’t meant to change your trust document as a whole. Instead, a trust amendment form is used to change certain trust provisions, which are the terms or “rules” you’ve set in your trust document.

Amending your trust saves you the time and hassle of having to completely rewrite your trust document. For example, you might use a trust amendment form to:

• Update your trustee or successor trustee: If your chosen trustee is no longer willing or able to manage the trust, or you’d like to designate someone else, you can use an amendment form to name another person or organization to manage your trust.
• Change or add beneficiaries: As your life and relationships change, so might your beneficiary preferences. For instance, maybe you remarry and become a step-parent after creating your trust, and you want to add your stepchild as a beneficiary. Or perhaps your beneficiary’s name changes and you decide to update their information. If these changes affect how the trust funds are distributed among your beneficiaries, however, you may want to rewrite your trust document instead.  
• Add, delete, or alter specific distributions: A distribution is a gift that you leave to loved ones or to charities you care about in your trust. An amendment can be used for specific changes, like adding or removing a gift.
• Revise a specific provision or term: If your situation changes or the goals you’ve set for your trust have shifted, you may need to adjust certain provisions you’ve included in your trust. For example, if you decide Sally should receive $25,000 to help pay for college, but Sally chooses to join the workforce right away instead, you can change when or why Sally receives these funds. You can use an amendment form to make these alterations, as long as they don’t impact the trust as a whole.
• Comply with state-specific requirements: Different states have different preferences on what you should and shouldn’t include in your trust documents. If you create your trust while living in one state but then move to another, you may want to amend your trust to meet the preferences of your new location. For instance, your new state may prefer different terminology or wording, which you can choose to adopt.

Trust amendment vs. trust restatement: What’s the difference?

An amendment form comes in handy when making changes that won’t impact your trust as a whole. Changes to your entire trust, however, may require you to rewrite your document. In this case, you’ll need to complete a trust restatement.

A trust restatement is a document that replaces or rewrites all the current provisions in your trust. You’ll likely need a trust restatement when the goals of your trust have changed. For instance, you’d use a restatement to make significant changes to trust provisions or to how you want assets distributed.

You should also opt for a trust restatement if you’re likely to make many amendments (or changes) to your trust over a few years. This helps you avoid the hassle of filling out, submitting, and keeping track of multiple amendment forms.

Both an amendment and a restatement need to be properly executed. This means they’ll need to be signed, witnessed, and potentially notarized, depending on your state’s requirements.

Trust amendment vs. codicil: What’s the difference?

Trust amendment forms and codicils are both legal documents that allow you to make changes to your estate plan — but they’re used to amend different documents.

A trust amendment form allows you to make certain changes to a revocable living trust, while a codicil lets you make small changes to your last will and testament.

How to change your trust using a trust amendment form

Amending your trust is a simple process. You can make a change by following these steps:

1. Get an amendment form. You can often find amendment form templates through a quick online search. You can also request one from an estate planning attorney.
2. Identify your changes. It’s important to know what you want to change and where in your trust document this information lives (such as the article number you’re amending).
3. Fill out the amendment form. Complete the entire form. It’s important to be clear and detailed in describing your changes.
4. Sign the form. You’ll need to sign your completed amendment form to make it legally valid. Some states may require you to sign in the presence of witnesses or a notary.
5. File the completed and signed form. You should attach the trust amendment form to your trust document and store them together. You may also need to file your amendment form with your local court or county office, depending on the rules of your state.
6. Make copies for relevant third parties. Say you have a bank account in your trust, and you've just changed who your trustee is or what powers they have. You should give your bank a copy of your amendment form, so they're aware of who can access the account on behalf of the trust.

If your changes are more complicated or you want to make several edits at once, you might consider filling out a restatement rather than an amendment form. An estate planning attorney can help answer any questions you may have and provide guidance on what options are best for your situation.

Don’t have a trust set up yet? You can securely create your trust using FreeWill’s revocable living trust tool.