# Arkansas HB1749: TO ADOPT THE UNIFORM TRUST DECANTING ACT. Arkansas HB1749, TO ADOPT THE UNIFORM TRUST DECANTING ACT., is a 2025 Regular Session House bill sponsored by Tyler Dees (Republican), Matt Brown (Republican); status enacted, last action 2025-04-16 (Notification that HB1749 is now Act 680) (as of 2026-10-19). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-HB1749-2025 - As of: 2026-10-19 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Arkansas HB1749 - State: Arkansas - Session: 2025 Regular Session - Title: TO ADOPT THE UNIFORM TRUST DECANTING ACT. - Status: enacted - Chamber: House - Introduced: 2025-03-12 - Last action: 2025-04-16, Notification that HB1749 is now Act 680 - Sponsors: Tyler Dees (Republican), Matt Brown (Republican) - Cosponsors: 0 - Touches household money: no - Roll calls: 2 (132 yes, 0 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 13 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - Animal care trusts keep their purpose: benefit, low. Beginning January 1, 2026, an animal-care trust with a protector can decant as if each benefiting animal were a person. The protector must consent in a signed record and has qualified-beneficiary enforcement rights. The new trust must keep assets dedicated to the intended animal-care purpose for th… - Trust beneficiaries retain pay and removal safeguards: benefit, low. Beginning January 1, 2026, decanting cannot raise manager pay above the original trust’s amount without consent or court approval. If the trust sets no amount, the limit is the pay allowed by Arkansas law. An increase requires signed consent from all qualified beneficiaries of the new trust or cour… - Trust transfers preserve existing tax protections: benefit, low. Beginning January 1, 2026, new trust terms cannot defeat listed tax treatment available to the original trust or its property. Protections cover marital and charitable deductions, gift-tax exclusions, S-corporation eligibility, and qualified subchapter-S trust status. They also cover a zero generat… - Charitable gifts stay protected during trust changes: benefit, low. Beginning January 1, 2026, the Arkansas Attorney General can represent a defined charitable interest and has qualified-beneficiary rights. New trusts cannot reduce that interest or an identified charity’s interest, change its purpose, or alter related conditions. Multiple new trusts are counted tog… - Trust transfers do not erase debts: cost, low. Beginning January 1, 2026, enforceable debts, liabilities, and other obligations remain attached to property moved into a new trust. Creditors can enforce those claims to the same extent as before. Decanting alone does not free the property from those obligations. - Advance notice before trust assets move: mixed, low. Beginning January 1, 2026, trust managers generally must give notice at least 60 days before decanting. Notice explains the change, gives its effective date, and includes the original and all new trust documents. Recipients include living or existing trust creators, qualified beneficiaries, current… - Broader trust changes with beneficiary protections: mixed, low. Beginning January 1, 2026, managers with broad power to distribute principal can move it into new trusts for current beneficiaries. If that power covers only part of the principal, only that part can move. The new trusts generally cannot add new current beneficiaries, add certain future beneficiari… - Limited trust powers preserve beneficiary interests: mixed, low. Beginning January 1, 2026, managers whose distribution power follows a measurable or reasonably clear standard can also decant principal. Across all new trusts, each beneficiary must keep substantially similar rights to trust benefits. Only principal covered by the manager’s distribution power can… - New options for changing Arkansas trusts: mixed, low. Beginning January 1, 2026, authorized trust managers can move assets into new trusts or change an existing trust through “decanting.” This covers express trusts administered in Arkansas or governed by Arkansas law for administration or interpreting their terms. Eligible trusts are irrevocable, or r… - New trusts retain key legal ties: mixed, low. Beginning January 1, 2026, a new trust can have a different duration, but transferred assets keep their existing legal time limits. The original creator remains the creator for transferred principal under Arkansas law outside this act. Interpreting intent can also consider the original creator, the… - Trust managers keep liability limits and protections: mixed, low. Beginning January 1, 2026, new trust terms cannot further reduce a manager’s liability for breach or reduce overall manager liability. The new trust can cover claims or liabilities only to the extent the original trust could have paid them. Reassigning powers or addressing responsibility for anothe… - Special needs trusts offer benefits with payback: mixed, low. Beginning January 1, 2026, a special-needs manager can use the broad-discretion route to create a trust for a beneficiary with a disability. The manager must find that the change furthers the original trust’s purposes and believe the person may qualify for disability-based benefits. The new trust i… - Trust creators can block some tax changes: mixed, low. Beginning January 1, 2026, a new trust can have a different grantor-trust tax status from the original trust. Grantor status generally assigns trust income to its creator for tax purposes. A creator’s signed objection delivered during the notice period blocks specified changes. This includes replac… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Tyler Dees (Republican), Senate - Sponsor: Matt Brown (Republican), House ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2025-04-09 | Senate | Senate Vote - Wednesday, April 9, 2025 7:54:05 PM | pass | 33 | 0 | 1 | | 2025-03-31 | House | House Vote - Monday, March 31, 2025 2:45:14 PM | pass | 99 | 0 | | ## Actions (13) - 2025-04-16: Notification that HB1749 is now Act 680 (House) - 2025-04-10: Correctly enrolled and ordered transmitted to the Governor's Office. (House) - 2025-04-09: TO BE ENROLLED (House) - 2025-04-09: Returned from the Senate as passed. (House) - 2025-04-09: Returned to the House as passed. (Senate) - 2025-04-09: Read the third time and passed. (Senate) - 2025-04-07: Returned by the Committee, with the recommendation that it Do Pass (Senate) - 2025-03-31: Read first time, rules suspended, read second time, referred to JUDICIARY COMMITTEE - SENATE (Senate) - 2025-03-31: Received from the House. (Senate) - 2025-03-31: Read the third time and passed and ordered transmitted to the Senate. (House) - 2025-03-20: Returned by the Committee Do Pass (House) - 2025-03-12: Read the first time, rules suspended, read the second time and referred to the Committee on JUDICIARY COMMITTEE- HOUSE (House) - 2025-03-12: Filed (House) ## Bill text - HB1749 - Introduced, 2025-03-12: [PDF](https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Home/FTPDocument?path=%2FBills%2F2025R%2FPublic%2FHB1749.pdf) - Act Version: [PDF](https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Acts/FTPDocument?path=%2FACTS%2F2025R%2FPublic%2F&file=680.pdf&ddBienniumSession=2025%2F2025R) ## Related bills - HB1265: AN ACT FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS AT LITTLE ROCK APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2025-2026 FISCAL YEAR. (enacted) - HB1237: TO PROHIBIT MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS FROM SOLICITING INJURED INDIVIDUALS; AND TO SET PENALTIES FOR A VIOLATION OF THE PROHIBITION OF SOLICITATION OF INJURED INDIV… (failed) - HB1686: TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING LICENSES TO CARRY CONCEALED HANDGUNS. (failed) - SB440: TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING EMBALMERS AND FUNERAL DIRECTORS; TO REGULATE THE USE OF ALKALINE HYDROLYSIS; AND TO REGULATE ALKALINE HYDROLYSIS FACILITIES. (failed) - HB1695: TO CLARIFY THE FORECLOSURE PROCESS FOR PROPERTY SUBJECT TO A MUNICIPAL LIEN; TO ALLOW A MUNICIPALITY TO PETITION TO SET ASIDE THE SALE OF PROPERTY TO CERTAIN P… (failed) - HR1012: TO AMEND THE RULES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY; TO REQUIRE THAT A MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES BE SELECTED A… (failed) ## Sources - [HB1749 - Introduced (PDF)](https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Home/FTPDocument?path=%2FBills%2F2025R%2FPublic%2FHB1749.pdf) - [Act Version (PDF)](https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Acts/FTPDocument?path=%2FACTS%2F2025R%2FPublic%2F&file=680.pdf&ddBienniumSession=2025%2F2025R) ## Related - [HB1265: AN ACT FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS AT LITTLE ROCK APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2025…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-HB1265-2025) - [HB1237: TO PROHIBIT MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS FROM SOLICITING INJURED INDIVIDUALS; AND TO S…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-HB1237-2025) - [HB1686: TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING LICENSES TO CARRY CONCEALED HANDGUNS.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-HB1686-2025) - [SB440: TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING EMBALMERS AND FUNERAL DIRECTORS; TO REGULATE THE US…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-SB440-2025) - [HB1695: TO CLARIFY THE FORECLOSURE PROCESS FOR PROPERTY SUBJECT TO A MUNICIPAL LIEN; TO…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-HB1695-2025) - [HR1012: TO AMEND THE RULES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-HR1012-2025) - [Arkansas bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/arkansas/bills) - [Arkansas state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/arkansas) - [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-HB1749-2025 (as of 2026-10-19).