Can I change my trust after I make it?

Short answer: Yes, if it’s a revocable living trust. In California a trust is revocable unless the document expressly makes it irrevocable (Prob. Code §15400), and the person who made a revocable trust can change it by the same procedure used to revoke it, unless the trust says otherwise (Prob. Code §15402). An irrevocable trust is different. You generally need the consent of every beneficiary or a court order to change it (Prob. Code §§15403, 15404, 15409).

Many clients amend their trust at some point. A child is born, a spouse dies, a marriage ends, a named trustee moves across the country or falls out of favor. The trouble usually comes from an amendment signed the wrong way, which a disappointed beneficiary can attack after the settlor dies.

Law verified against Probate Code §§15400 to 15409, Family Code §761, Haggerty v. Thornton (2024) 15 Cal.5th 729, and Andersen v. Hunt (2011) 196 Cal.App.4th 722, 2026. This is general information, not legal advice for your situation.

Can you change a revocable living trust?

Yes. California presumes a trust is revocable. Unless the trust instrument expressly says it’s irrevocable, the settlor (the person who created it, also called the trustor or grantor) can revoke it (Prob. Code §15400). And a settlor who can revoke a trust can also modify it by the procedure for revocation, unless the trust instrument provides otherwise (Prob. Code §15402).

That flexibility is why most California families build their plan around a living trust. You keep full control while you’re alive and competent. The terms you leave in place become fixed when you die, and at that point the successor trustee carries them out.

How do you amend a trust in California?

A revocable trust may be revoked, in whole or in part, by following any method of revocation the trust instrument provides, or by a writing (other than a will) signed by the settlor and delivered to the trustee during the settlor’s lifetime (Prob. Code §15401(a)). The second route is off the table only if the trust instrument explicitly makes its own method the exclusive one (Prob. Code §15401(a)(2)).

The California Supreme Court applied those rules to amendments in Haggerty v. Thornton (2024) 15 Cal.5th 729. A trust that merely describes a way to amend, without limiting the settlor to that method, doesn’t block the statutory route. A settlor can modify it with a signed writing delivered to the trustee unless the trust says its method is exclusive or otherwise precludes the statutory procedure.

In practice I still follow the trust’s own procedure every time:

1. Read the amendment clause in your trust. Note whether it requires a particular form, a notary, or delivery to a co-trustee.
2. Decide whether you need an amendment or a restatement.
3. Have the document drafted so it doesn’t collide with earlier provisions or prior amendments.
4. Sign it the way the trust requires. For my clients, that means a mobile notary who comes to you.
5. Keep the signed original with your trust. If someone else is serving as trustee, deliver it to them, since the statutory route requires delivery to the trustee (Prob. Code §15401(a)(2)).

A text message, an email, or a note scribbled in the margin of the trust is an invitation to litigation. Haggerty itself was a fight over whether an amendment was valid. Following your trust’s own procedure makes that fight much less likely.

When is a restatement better than an amendment?

A short amendment is fine for a single change, such as naming a new successor trustee or adjusting one beneficiary’s share. Once you’ve stacked several amendments on the original, or the change touches how the whole estate is divided, a restatement is cleaner. A restatement rewrites the entire trust document while keeping the same trust, so the assets already titled in the trust’s name stay put. Banks and title companies then read one document instead of piecing together an original plus a stack of amendments. I cover the tradeoffs in trust amendment vs. restatement in California.

Can one spouse change a joint trust alone?

It depends on what’s being changed. Unless the trust says otherwise, when two settlors create a trust, each can revoke it as to the portion that settlor contributed, subject to Family Code §761 (Prob. Code §15401(b)(1)). For community property, Family Code §761(b) lets either spouse, acting alone, revoke the trust as to that property unless the trust instrument expressly provides otherwise. Community property placed in a revocable trust generally stays community property during the marriage when changes to the spouses’ rights in it require both spouses’ joinder or consent (Fam. Code §761(a)).

The practical result: one spouse can usually pull community property back out, but many joint trusts require both spouses to sign an amendment that rewrites who gets what. Read your trust’s own terms before assuming either way.

Can my agent under a power of attorney amend my trust?

Only if the trust expressly allows it. A trust may not be modified or revoked by an attorney-in-fact under a power of attorney unless the trust instrument expressly permits it (Prob. Code §15401(c)). If you want your agent to be able to make limited changes after you lose capacity, such as updating a trust for tax reasons, that permission has to be written into the trust.

How much mental capacity do you need to amend a trust?

You need enough capacity for the specific change you’re making. Under Probate Code §812, a person lacks capacity to make a decision unless they can communicate it and understand the rights, duties, and consequences involved. In Andersen v. Hunt (2011) 196 Cal.App.4th 722, the Court of Appeal held that capacity to amend a trust is measured under Probate Code §§810 to 812, not by a single contract standard, and that any mental deficit has to be tied to the particular act in question.

If a parent’s memory is slipping, don’t wait. An amendment signed while capacity is clear is far harder to attack than one signed after a diagnosis. For more, see can someone with dementia amend a trust in California.

Can you change an irrevocable trust?

Not on your own. Once a trust is irrevocable, whether it was drafted that way or became irrevocable at the settlor’s death, California law offers three main routes:

• Settlor and all beneficiaries agree. A trust may be modified or terminated by the written consent of the settlor and all beneficiaries, without court approval (Prob. Code §15404(a)).
• All beneficiaries petition the court. If all beneficiaries consent, they may petition for modification or termination. If continuing the trust is necessary to carry out a material purpose, the court may modify it only if the reason for doing so outweighs the interest in accomplishing that purpose (Prob. Code §15403).
• Changed circumstances. On petition by a trustee or beneficiary, the court may modify a trust if circumstances the settlor didn’t know about or anticipate would defeat or substantially impair the trust’s purposes (Prob. Code §15409(a)).

Some irrevocable trusts also name a trust protector with limited power to make changes. That power exists only if the document grants it. I go deeper in can you change an irrevocable trust in California and petitions to modify under §§15403 and 15404.

What about a trust created in a will?

A testamentary trust is part of a will, so while you’re alive you change it the way you change a will. A will or any part of it is revoked by a later will that revokes it expressly or by inconsistency, or by being burned, torn, canceled, or destroyed with the intent to revoke it (Prob. Code §6120). After your death, the trust exists only through the probate of your will, and there’s no living settlor left to amend it. At that point the court routes under §§15403 and 15409 are what remain.

What should you do if your trust is out of date?

Pull out the original, read the amendment clause, and list every change you want. If you’re changing more than one or two provisions, plan on a restatement. I handle trust amendments and restatements for clients throughout California by phone and Zoom, and a mobile notary comes to you for signing. For how a trust fits into the rest of your plan, see my estate planning overview and revocable vs. irrevocable trusts in California.