Kansas Living Trust

Introduction

Key Things to Know

1. 1

   Kansas reverses the modern default on trustee bonding. K.S.A. 58a-702(a) requires every trustee to post bond unless the trust instrument itself waives or modifies that requirement, the opposite of states where bond is the exception a court must order. A trust drafted without an express bond waiver leaves every successor trustee with a bonding obligation, though a regulated financial institution qualified to do trust business in Kansas is exempt regardless (Section 58a-702(c)).

2. 2

   In April 2026 Kansas enacted the Kansas Community Property Trust Act (2026 H.B. 2590), letting any married couple, not just those in a traditional community-property state, opt into community-property treatment by funding a jointly signed trust naming a qualified Kansas trustee. Property so held becomes community property during the marriage, and one-half of the trust's value passes outside the surviving deceased spouse's testamentary disposition and outside the elective estate, with a federal double step-up in basis under IRC Section 1014(b)(6).

3. 3

   A Kansas revocable living trust does not defeat a surviving spouse's elective share. K.S.A. 58a-505(a)(3) and 59-6a205(a)(1) pull the trust's assets into the augmented estate because the settlor held a power to revoke and redirect the property, and a spouse married 15 or more years can elect up to 50 percent of the augmented estate (K.S.A. 59-6a202), with a $100,000 supplemental floor for shorter marriages (Section 59-6a202(b)).

4. 4

   Kansas's default rule against perpetuities caps a nonvested interest at 90 years from creation, or 21 years after a life in being (K.S.A. 59-3401(a)). Since July 1, 2023, K.S.A. 59-3404(8) lets a trust opt entirely out of that cap if the instrument says the rule does not apply and the trustee holds a power to sell, lease, or mortgage trust property beyond the normal vesting period, moving Kansas toward the dynasty-trust states for drafters who use that language.

5. 5

   No notary, witness, or will formality is required to create a Kansas living trust. K.S.A. 58a-402 requires only settlor capacity, intent, a definite beneficiary, and trustee duties, and K.S.A. 58a-407 will enforce even a purely oral trust on clear and convincing evidence. That flexibility does not extend to a testamentary trust, which must satisfy the will-execution statute (K.S.A. 59-606), or to real property, which needs a signed writing under the statute of frauds.

6. 6

   Kan. Const. art. 15, Section 9 bars alienating the Kansas homestead without the joint consent of both spouses. K.S.A. 58a-1107(c) confirms that deeding the home into a revocable trust in which the settlor remains a beneficiary does not itself forfeit the homestead exemption or trigger a mortgage due-on-sale clause, a result the Kansas Supreme Court applied in Redmond v. Kester, 284 Kan. 209 (2007). Whether the non-owner spouse must also sign the funding deed to satisfy the constitutional joinder requirement is not resolved by any Kansas statute or reported decision; ask a Kansas attorney before funding a jointly owned home into a trust.

7. 7

   Kansas imposes no real estate transfer tax, no estate tax, and no inheritance tax at any level, and a deed transferring property into a trust without consideration is exempt from the sales validation questionnaire otherwise required with most recorded deeds (K.S.A. 79-1437e(a)(7)). Kansas also has no trust-registration statute and no domestic asset protection trust law; a revocable trust gives its settlor no protection from the settlor's own creditors during life (K.S.A. 58a-505(a)(1)).

Kansas Requirements for Living Trust

• Kansas Trustee Bond Required by Default

  K.S.A. 58a-702(a) requires a trustee to post bond unless the trust instrument waives or modifies that requirement, the reverse of the majority rule where bond is ordered only by a court. A regulated financial institution qualified to do trust business in Kansas is exempt regardless (Section 58a-702(c)).

• Kansas Community Property Trust Act (2026)

  The Kansas Community Property Trust Act, signed April 9, 2026 (2026 H.B. 2590), lets a married couple opt into community-property treatment by funding a jointly signed trust naming a qualified Kansas trustee, supporting a federal double step-up in basis at the first spouse's death.

• Kansas No Notary or Witness Required to Create the Trust

  K.S.A. 58a-402 requires only settlor capacity, intent, trust property, a definite beneficiary, and trustee duties. No notary, witness, or will formality applies to the trust itself, though the funding deed and any certification of trust must be notarized.

• Kansas Elective Share Reaches Revocable Trust Assets

  K.S.A. 58a-505(a)(3) and 59-6a205(a)(1) pull revocable trust assets into the augmented estate for elective-share purposes, and a surviving spouse married 15 or more years can elect up to 50 percent of that augmented estate under K.S.A. 59-6a202.

• Kansas Homestead Preserved When Settlor Remains a Beneficiary

  K.S.A. 58a-1107(c) preserves the homestead exemption when a residence is deeded into a revocable trust in which the settlor remains a beneficiary. Whether the non-owner spouse must also sign the funding deed under the constitutional joint-consent requirement (Kan. Const. art. 15, Section 9) is unresolved.

• Kansas Perpetuities Opt-Out

  K.S.A. 59-3401(a) caps a nonvested interest at 90 years by default. K.S.A. 59-3404(8), effective July 1, 2023, lets a trust opt entirely out of that cap if the instrument says the rule does not apply and the trustee holds a power to sell, lease, or mortgage trust property beyond the normal vesting period.