The day you find out you have been named successor trustee of a California trust is usually a hard day. The settlor has just died or become incapacitated, the family is grieving, and someone hands you a 60 page document and says you are now in charge. Most new trustees did not ask for the role, did not realize what it would involve, and have never administered a trust before. The good news is that California Probate Code provides a clear road map for the first 30 days. Walking through it carefully protects the beneficiaries, the trust assets, and most of all you as the trustee from personal liability.
This checklist is California specific and is written for the most common situation: a revocable living trust that becomes irrevocable when the settlor dies. The same general principles apply to trusts that become irrevocable on incapacity or for other reasons, but the deadlines and forms may shift. When in doubt, get a written opinion from a California trust attorney before you act.
Day 1 to 3: Locate the Trust and Confirm Your Authority
Before you do anything else, find the trust document and read it. Look for the original signed and notarized trust, every restatement, and every amendment. Restatements replace the entire body of the trust. Amendments change one or more provisions. The most recent restatement plus all amendments that came after it together form the operative trust.
Inside the document, confirm two things. First, that you are actually the successor trustee. The trust may name a co trustee, a series of successors, or a corporate trustee that takes priority over you. Second, that the triggering event has occurred. For most revocable trusts, the trigger is the settlor's death, but some trusts also activate on certified incapacity, written resignation, or court removal of the prior trustee.
Once you have confirmed your authority, you will need certified copies of the death certificate, which can be ordered from the Los Angeles County Registrar Recorder. Order at least 10 certified copies in the first week. Banks, brokerages, title companies, and the IRS will each demand an original.
Day 4 to 10: Secure the Assets
The trustee's most fundamental fiduciary duty is to take physical and legal control of the trust assets and protect them from loss, theft, or waste. In the first week, that means walking through every category of property the settlor owned and confirming it is secure.
- Change the locks on the settlor's residence and any other real property held by the trust. Photograph the interior before anything is moved.
- Cancel cleaning services, lawn services, and automatic deliveries that are no longer needed, but keep utilities, security monitoring, and homeowners insurance in place.
- Confirm that homeowners and auto insurance are paid current and that the trust (or estate) is listed as an additional insured if the settlor was the named insured.
- Collect mail by filing a USPS forwarding request to the trustee's address.
- Identify all bank, brokerage, and retirement accounts. Take screenshots and download the last 12 months of statements before the financial institution restricts online access.
- Inventory tangible personal property such as jewelry, collectibles, firearms, and vehicles. Move portable valuables to a secured location.
- Stop using any credit cards in the settlor's name. They are not yours to use and post death charges create accounting and tax complications.
One word of caution. Several beneficiaries may ask for the keys, ask for an item of jewelry, or ask for an "advance" against their share within the first week. The answer in every case is the same. Nothing leaves the trust until the trustee has notified all beneficiaries, gathered an inventory, and obtained either signed receipts or a court order. We address this discipline in detail on our trust administration practice page.
Day 11 to 20: The PC 16061.7 Notice (Mandatory 60 Day Beneficiary Notice)
California Probate Code section 16061.7 is the single most important deadline in a California trust administration. The statute requires the trustee to send a written notice to every trust beneficiary and every heir at law of the settlor within 60 days of the settlor's death or the trust becoming irrevocable.
The 60 days is the deadline, not the target. Sending the notice in week three gives you a comfortable margin and starts an important clock. Once a beneficiary receives the notice, that person has 120 days to file a contest of the trust under Probate Code section 16061.8. If no contest is filed in those 120 days, the beneficiary loses the right to challenge the trust on most grounds. Trustees who send the notice promptly buy the trust a finality date 180 days after the settlor's death.
The statute requires the notice to contain specific information including the identity of the settlor, the date the trust was executed, the address of the principal place of administration, the trustee's name and contact information, and the statutory warning that "you may not bring an action to contest the trust more than 120 days from the date this notification by the trustee is served upon you." A notice that omits any required element does not start the 120 day clock.
The list of recipients is broader than most trustees expect. It includes every named beneficiary of the trust, every successor beneficiary whose interest might be affected, and every heir at law of the settlor under California intestacy law, even those who receive nothing under the trust. Missing one person can void the entire notice. We recommend running an heir search in week two so the recipient list is solid by the time the notice goes out.
Day 21 to 30: Inventory and Tax IDs
By the end of the first month, the trustee should have a working inventory of trust assets and a separate accounting for any property the settlor owned in their individual name that was not titled in the trust. The latter category often becomes the subject of either a Heggstad petition (asking a California court to confirm that property the settlor intended to transfer is in fact a trust asset) or a small estate probate proceeding under Probate Code section 13100 if the value is under the California small estate threshold (184,500 dollars as of 2024).
The trustee also needs a federal employer identification number for the trust. As long as the trust was revocable, it used the settlor's Social Security number. Once it becomes irrevocable, it needs its own EIN. You can obtain one online from the IRS in roughly 10 minutes at no cost. The EIN goes on every new account, every fiduciary tax return, and every brokerage retitling request.
Coordinate early with a CPA who handles fiduciary income tax returns. The settlor will need a final personal Form 1040 for the year of death. The trust will need a Form 1041 for any income it earns from the date of death forward. California also requires fiduciary returns. Getting both professionals lined up in month one prevents tax penalties later.
Common First Month Mistakes That Trigger Beneficiary Lawsuits
Most beneficiary lawsuits against trustees do not arise from greed or bad faith. They arise from a small number of avoidable mistakes that violate California fiduciary duty rules. Watch out for these in your first 30 days.
- Commingling. Never deposit trust funds into your personal account "just for a few days." It is a per se breach of fiduciary duty under Probate Code section 16009 and gives any beneficiary an automatic claim against you personally.
- Paying yourself or other beneficiaries early. Even if the trust says you take 50 percent, you do not get a check in month one. Distributions wait until creditor claims are resolved and an accounting is prepared.
- Self dealing. Do not buy trust assets, sell to the trust, or lend to or from the trust without express authority in the document and written beneficiary consent or court approval.
- Missing the 16061.7 notice. Late or incomplete notices keep the 120 day contest window open indefinitely and can be cited as evidence of breach.
- Acting without reading the document. Trustees who tell beneficiaries something the trust does not actually say create a paper trail that follows them into court.
- Refusing to communicate. Going silent for weeks at a time is almost always read by beneficiaries as a sign that something is being hidden, even when nothing is.
When to Hire an Attorney
Some trust administrations are simple enough that a careful trustee can work through them with the help of a CPA. Most are not. Hire a California trust attorney in the first 30 days if any of the following applies:
- The trust holds real estate that needs to be sold, refinanced, or distributed
- There are blended family beneficiaries (children from prior marriages, step children, half siblings)
- Any beneficiary has already asked for a copy of the trust, a list of assets, or "what they are getting"
- The trust requires the creation of a survivor's trust, bypass trust, or QTIP trust on the first death
- The estate value exceeds the federal estate tax exemption (currently 13.61 million dollars per person, scheduled to drop in 2026)
- You are uncomfortable being the public face of every distribution decision
- You suspect a beneficiary will challenge the trust or your appointment
The cost of representation is paid from trust assets, not from the trustee's pocket, and an experienced attorney typically saves more in beneficiary disputes and tax penalties than the entire fee.
Documents You Will Need to Gather
To make the first 30 days easier, start a single binder or digital folder with all of the following:
- Original trust, every restatement, and every amendment
- Pour over will, if any, and any prior wills
- Certified copies of the death certificate (order 10)
- Most recent statements for every bank, brokerage, retirement, and 529 account
- Recorded grant deeds for every parcel of real property
- Vehicle titles and registration
- Most recent property tax bills
- Most recent two years of federal and California income tax returns
- Life insurance policies and annuity contracts
- Business operating agreements, partnership agreements, and shareholder agreements
- Beneficiary designation forms for retirement accounts and insurance
- A list of every digital account, password, and two factor recovery method (the settlor's password manager export is gold here)
- The settlor's contact information for their CPA, financial advisor, and prior estate planning attorney
You will not need every document on day one. You will need most of them by day 30, and assembling the list early gives a clear starting point for the inventory and the first beneficiary accounting.
The first 30 days set the tone for the entire administration. Trustees who move methodically, communicate clearly, and document every step in writing rarely face litigation. Trustees who move quickly, communicate poorly, or skip steps almost always do. If you have just been handed a trust and you are not sure where to start, the safest move is to schedule a free consultation with a California trust attorney before week two ends. The 60 day notice clock is already ticking.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Every trust is different and California law changes regularly. Contact MVP Law Group for a consultation tailored to your trust, your beneficiaries, and your timeline.