The Journal — Plain-English Estate Law
Plain-English guidance on wills, trusts, probate, and protecting your family in California.
What Happens If a Beneficiary Dies Before the Settlor?
Usually their children take their place. California’s anti-lapse statute steps in automatically unless the document says otherwise, and the result is often not what the surviving family expects.…
Read →Can a Trustee Change or Remove a Beneficiary?
Almost never. A trustee administers a trust, they don’t rewrite it, and the power to change who inherits belongs to the settlor. The exceptions are narrow, they’re written…
Read →Can Beneficiaries Remove a Trustee Without Going to Court?
Sometimes, and it depends entirely on what the trust document says. California gives beneficiaries no general statutory power to fire a trustee by vote. What many trusts give…
Read →Am I Owed Interest on a Distribution the Trustee Sat On?
Only if the delay was a breach of trust. Interest isn’t automatic compensation for waiting, and that distinction is where most beneficiary complaints about slow trustees fall apart.…
Read →How Long Can a Trustee Take Before Distributing?
There is no statutory deadline for distributing a California trust, which is the honest and unsatisfying answer. What there is instead is a duty of reasonable diligence, a…
Read →Should I Sign a Receipt and Release to Get My Distribution?
Usually you can sign it, but not before you’ve seen the numbers, and not if it’s bundled with a release you haven’t read. Trustees are entitled to protection…
Read →The Trustee Wants Me to Waive the Accounting. Should I?
Sometimes yes, sometimes it’s void, and the difference depends on who is asking. A trustee asking beneficiaries to waive the accounting is making a request the law permits…
Read →How Do I Find Out Who the Trustee of a Trust Is?
There is no public registry of trustees in California. Trusts aren’t filed with any court or agency while they’re working properly, which is exactly why finding the trustee…
Read →Want a straight read on where you stand?
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