Trust Administration: Definition and How It Works in California

By Eric Ridley, attorney, Ridley Law. Updated September 2026.

Trust administration is the process a successor trustee follows after a settlor dies or becomes incapacitated: giving notice, gathering and protecting trust assets, paying debts, and eventually distributing what remains to beneficiaries.

How it works in California

California does not require court supervision for most trust administration, unlike probate. The trustee acts under the authority the trust document already gives them, following the duties in Prob. Code, §§ 16060 through 16062, and Ridley Law’s guides for trustees and beneficiaries cover each stage in sequence.

The trustee must send formal notice under Prob. Code, § 16061.7 once the trust becomes irrevocable, usually at the settlor’s death, to every beneficiary and legal heir. That notice starts the clock beneficiaries have to challenge the trust.

After notice, administration moves through valuing and protecting assets, paying the settlor’s debts and taxes, and, once claims are resolved, distributing what remains according to the trust’s terms.

Why it matters

For example, a trustee who skips the beneficiary notice and distributes assets right away can face a challenge months later from an heir who never got the chance to review the trust or raise an objection in time.

Common mistakes

Trustees often distribute assets before debts and taxes are resolved, then have to ask beneficiaries to give money back. Others treat the process as informal because no court is involved, when the trustee’s legal duties are just as real as they are in probate.

Related terms

• Probate Code Section 16061.7 Notice: the formal notice that opens the administration timeline.
• Proposition 19: can affect how a trustee handles a home passing between parent and child during administration.
• Successor Trustee: the person carrying out trust administration.
• Trustee: the role responsible for administration from start to finish.
• Trustee Accounting: the financial report administration eventually requires.
• Affidavit of Death of Trustee: the sworn form a successor trustee records to show the prior trustee has died.

Part of the California estate planning glossary. For the full treatment, see Guides for Trustees and Beneficiaries.