Alaska Trust Law Update: 2026 Bill Tracker

This status report has an August 30, 2026 research cutoff. On the official Alaska Legislature pages reviewed on that date, SB 225, companion HB 277, and SB 234 had not been enacted. They remain proposals and should not be cited as authority for a current trust decision.

Unless a later session law becomes effective, Alaska trustees and planners should continue using enacted Title 13 trust and fiduciary provisions and the Title 34 rules governing spendthrift transfers, duration, community property, and related property questions. Anticipating a pending bill in a document or distribution procedure can create a gap between the plan and the law actually in force.

How this legislative status was checked

For each measure, the official Alaska Legislature record was reviewed for bill text, versions, committee referrals, action history, documents, and evidence of enactment. Current Title 13 and Title 34 publications were used for the operative law.

A hearing, sponsor statement, fiscal note, committee referral, or favorable bill title is not a statutory amendment. Before treating a proposal as law, verify the complete sequence:

1. final passage by both legislative chambers;
2. enrollment and transmission;
3. governor action or another constitutionally effective path;
4. an official chapter number and session-law text;
5. effective-date and applicability provisions; and
6. later incorporation into the statute publication.

Even enacted legislation may have a delayed start date, transition procedure, or rule limited to trusts, transfers, or proceedings occurring after a specified time.

SB 225 remains proposed broad trust legislation

When checked, the official SB 225 page placed the bill in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Its latest listed status action was March 25, 2026, and the page did not show enactment.

The proposal spans multiple areas of trust procedure and administration rather than amending one narrow section. Bill materials address subjects that include nonjudicial settlement, court and trustee processes, fiduciary powers, decanting and modification, and creditor-related provisions. Committee substitutes and amendments can change any of those details, so an introduced or intermediate draft cannot serve as operative law.

Current Alaska statutes continue to govern, including:

• AS 13.36.005–.043 for registration, principal administration, jurisdiction, and situs;
• AS 13.36.080 for beneficiary information;
• AS 13.36.100 for limitation issues connected with trustee reports;
• AS 13.36.157–.159 for decanting;
• AS 13.36.370–.375 for protectors and advisers; and
• AS 34.40.110 for qualifying self-settled spendthrift transfers.

If SB 225 later advances, compare the enrolled version line by line with each current section and read the final effective and applicability clauses before changing a trust, notice, petition, or fiduciary workflow.

HB 277 must be tracked separately

HB 277 is the House companion addressing the same broad trust-law subject. At the cutoff, its official page showed referral to House Labor and Commerce and listed January 23, 2026 as its most recent status action. It was not enacted.

Companion bills may start with matching language and then diverge as each chamber considers amendments and committee substitutes. The Senate bill number does not establish what the House has approved, and activity on one measure does not prove the final wording of the other.

Monitor both official histories, texts, committee versions, fiscal notes, and chamber votes. For a current administration matter, distinguish a decision that must be made now from a project that can reasonably await legislative clarity. A trustee should not defer a required distribution, notice, tax filing, insurance payment, or property-protection step because a proposal might someday change procedure.

SB 234 addresses fiduciary income and principal

SB 234 proposes a Uniform Fiduciary Income and Principal Act framework. The official page placed it in Senate Judiciary at the research cutoff, with May 6, 2026 shown as the latest status action. It had not become law.

Consequently, present Alaska fiduciary accounting continues under enacted law, including AS 13.38, the governing instrument, relevant tax law, and the character of the particular receipt, expense, adjustment, and distribution. A trustee should not use a proposed allocation, adjustment, or unitrust provision from SB 234 as current authority.

If a final version is enacted, implementation would require a systems project, not simply a new citation. Trustees, lawyers, and tax professionals would need to analyze definitions of income and principal, adjustment authority, notices, unitrust provisions, transition rules, beneficiary statements, tax classifications, software configuration, and the interaction with each trust’s terms.

Current Alaska rules remain operative

The pending measures do not suspend existing statutes. As of the cutoff, the enacted framework discussed throughout this library continued to include these propositions:

• AS 34.40.110 provides four-year deadlines for the fraudulent-transfer claim under subsection (b)(1), a narrower discovery alternative for certain pre-transfer creditors, separate statutory defects, and a sworn affidavit requirement;
• AS 34.27.051, AS 34.27.075, and AS 34.27.100 provide the applicable Alaska duration and alienation framework;
• AS 13.36.375 distinguishes an adviser whose input is not binding from an adviser whose direction a trustee must follow;
• AS 13.36.157–.159 governs the existing decanting authority, limits, writing, service, and effective-date procedure; and
• AS 13.36.080 and AS 13.36.100 govern current beneficiary information and report-related limitation issues.

Every proposition should be verified again after legislation is enacted. A proposal concerning a topic does not itself repeal, amend, or pause the statute already on the books.

Maintain a decision-focused bill log

An Alaska fiduciary does not need to rewrite governing documents whenever a new bill appears. It does need a reliable way to spot legislation that could affect an active decision.

For each relevant measure, record the bill number, exact version reviewed, provisions tied to the trust, current committee or chamber, most recent action, amendment history, enactment status, effective date if enacted, and the operational response that may be required.

Flag pending matters that touch a proposed decanting, principal-and-income allocation, nonjudicial agreement, account approval, creditor process, modification, or fiduciary appointment. Keep satisfying present-law duties and deadlines while counsel monitors whether a final enactment creates another option.

Use the session law after enactment

If any measure becomes law, obtain the enrolled and enacted session text. Do not rely on the most familiar committee draft, a sponsor summary, or an article written while the bill was pending. Prepare a comparison against the prior statute and answer:

• Which trusts, fiduciaries, proceedings, and transactions are covered?
• When does each provision take effect?
• Are existing instruments or completed transactions grandfathered?
• What new notice, consent, standard, or court process applies?
• Did liability, beneficiary rights, or limitation periods change?
• Are tax results dependent on separate federal rules?
• Which trust forms, service agreements, policies, systems, and templates need revision?

Review active trusts by issue rather than applying one portfolio-wide amendment. A statutory default may already be displaced by the instrument, a new power may be unsuitable, and a procedural amendment may apply only to acts occurring after its effective date.

Dated-status limitation

Legislative information can become stale immediately after a committee action, floor vote, governor decision, or publication of a chapter law. Recheck the official Alaska sources after adjournment, after governor action, when a session law posts, and before relying on any pending measure in a live matter.

This page accurately separates current law from the listed proposals only through August 30, 2026. Official enacted text, effective dates, and later status records control over this summary.