Am I Entitled to a Copy of the Trust? California’s 120-Day Notice

Short answer: Yes. Once a California trust becomes irrevocable because the settlor died, you’re entitled to a true and complete copy of the trust’s terms on reasonable request. The trustee must serve a statutory notice under Probate Code §16061.7 within 60 days of the death on every trust beneficiary and every legal heir: including people the trust leaves out. That notice starts the contest clock: 120 days from service, or 60 days from delivery of the trust’s terms if you request them during that window, whichever is later (§16061.8). A trustee who skips someone is personally on the hook for the damages that follow, plus attorney’s fees and costs when the person skipped is a beneficiary (§16061.9).

Figures verified against Probate Code §§16060–16062 and 16061.7–16061.9, 2026. This is general information, not legal advice for your situation.

If you’re the trustee: this notice is your first real deadline

Eric’s practice is trust administration, so let’s start on the trustee’s side of the table. When a revocable trust (or any portion of it) becomes irrevocable because the settlor died, §16061.7 requires you to serve written notice within 60 days on two groups:

• Every beneficiary of the trust: current and future interests alike; and
• Every heir of the deceased settlor: the people who would inherit under intestacy if there were no trust at all. Yes, that includes the son the trust deliberately cut out and the estranged daughter nobody has spoken to in a decade. That’s not a drafting accident: the disinherited are the likeliest contestants, and the statute forces their decision onto a short clock instead of leaving it open for years.

Under subdivision (g), the notice must contain: the settlor’s identity and the date of the trust; the name, address, and phone number of each trustee; the physical address where the trust is being administered; anything else the trust instrument itself requires; and a statement that the recipient is entitled, on reasonable request, to a true and complete copy of the terms of the trust.

Then comes the sentence the Legislature wrote for you. Subdivision (h) requires this warning, verbatim, in at least 10-point boldface type:

“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 or 60 days from the date on which a copy of the terms of the trust is delivered to you during that 120-day period, whichever is later.”

Get the wording or the service wrong and you haven’t started anyone’s clock. You’ve just created evidence that you tried.

Why a smart trustee serves generously

The counterintuitive part: this notice is the trustee’s shield, not a burden. The 120-day contest window never starts for anyone who wasn’t properly served (§16061.8). Skip the difficult brother because you’d rather not poke the bear, and the shortened period never starts against him, so the general limitation rules apply instead and he may still contest after the money is distributed. Serve him properly, and 120 days later his window closes forever.

The penalty for skipping people has teeth of its own: §16061.9 makes a trustee who fails to serve a beneficiary responsible for all damages, attorney’s fees, and costs caused by the failure, and a trustee who fails to serve a known heir responsible for the heir’s damages, unless the trustee made a reasonably diligent effort. And subdivision (c) gives you the matching protection: in deciding the timing and nature of distributions, you may take into account that the contest window has not run. When in doubt about whether someone counts as an heir, serve them; over-serving costs a stamp, under-serving can cost you personally. The notice is step one on the longer list of successor trustee duties in California.

If you received a notice, or should have and didn’t

Flip the table. If a parent died and a §16061.7 notice arrived in your mail, that’s not a threat; it’s the statute working. Your move is simple: request a true and complete copy of the terms of the trust, in writing, promptly. Email or a dated letter to the trustee at the address on the notice is enough. Requesting during the window matters: your contest deadline becomes the later of 120 days from service or 60 days from delivery of the copy: a trustee who slow-walks it extends your own deadline.

Your rights don’t end with that one document. § 16060 obligates the trustee to keep beneficiaries reasonably informed of the trust and its administration; §16060.7 requires the terms of the trust to be provided on request; and §16062(a) requires an accounting at least annually, at the trust’s termination, and on a change of trustee, to current income or principal beneficiaries. If months pass in silence, our guide to a beneficiary’s right to a trust accounting covers how to demand one.

One boundary: if you read the trust and believe it’s the product of incapacity or undue influence, an actual trust contest is litigation: courtroom work, on the 120-day clock. That’s not Eric’s lane. He’ll tell you whether the timeline and paperwork look right, and refer you to a trust litigator, for free, if a fight is what’s actually needed. Read up on no-contest clauses before you file anything.

If the trustee won’t send it, or won’t answer

Put the request in writing and keep a copy. A trustee who refuses or ignores it can be ordered to comply on a petition under Probate Code §17200, and the statute treats the trust document differently from everything else.

A petition to compel a copy of the trust’s terms has no waiting period (§17200(b)(7)(A)). A petition to compel other information under §16061, or an accounting, is available once a written request has gone unanswered for 60 days and the trustee hasn’t provided that information, or made an account, in the six months before you asked (§17200(b)(7)(B)-(C)).

Information and accountings aren’t owed to every beneficiary on the same terms. Any beneficiary can ask for information relevant to their own interest (§16061). The annual accounting under §16062 goes to beneficiaries to whom income or principal is required, or authorized in the trustee’s discretion, to be currently distributed. The trust instrument or a beneficiary’s written waiver can excuse it, though a court can still compel an accounting on a showing that a material breach of the trust is reasonably likely (§16064).

If the person who made the trust is still alive, none of this applies yet unless they’ve lost capacity. See can I see the trust while my parent is still alive for the §15800 rule. For the written demand itself, see what to do when a trustee won’t give you a copy of the trust.

Frequently Asked Questions

Am I entitled to a copy of a trust in California?

Yes, once the trust (or a portion of it) becomes irrevocable: typically at the settlor’s death. Beneficiaries and heirs of the settlor are entitled, on reasonable request, to a true and complete copy of the terms of the trust (§16061.7(g), §16060.7). While the settlor is alive and the trust is revocable, you have no right to see it.

How long does a trustee have to notify beneficiaries in California?

Sixty days from the settlor’s death (or from whenever the trust becomes irrevocable). The §16061.7 notice must go to all trust beneficiaries and all legal heirs of the settlor, with the statutory contents and the bold 120-day warning language.

What is the 120-day rule for trusts in California?

Once the trustee properly serves the §16061.7 notice, a recipient has 120 days from service to file a trust contest, or 60 days from delivery of the trust’s terms if they requested a copy during that period, whichever is later (§16061.8). Without proper service, the 120-day clock never starts running against that person.

Do disinherited heirs get a copy of the trust?

Yes. The notice must go to every heir of the deceased settlor, expressly including people the trust leaves nothing, and each of them can demand a full copy of the trust’s terms. The trade-off runs in the trust’s favor: once served, a disinherited heir has only the statutory window to act.

What happens if the trustee never sends the notice?

Two things, both bad for the trustee. The shortened 120-day contest period never starts for anyone not served, so the general limitation rules apply instead, and §16061.9 makes the trustee personally responsible for the damages the failure causes, plus attorney’s fees and costs when a beneficiary was skipped, absent a reasonably diligent effort to comply.

Can the trustee refuse to give me the whole trust and just send a summary?

Not once it’s irrevocable and you’ve made a reasonable written request: the statute says a “true and complete copy of the terms,” not a summary or selected pages. If the trustee stalls, a written demand citing §16060.7 usually resolves it, and a court order is available if it doesn’t.

How long does a trustee have to answer a request for information?

The Probate Code sets no response deadline for a first request. It sets the point where you can go to court: a written request for information or an accounting that has gone unanswered for 60 days, where the trustee hasn’t provided that information or made an account in the prior six months, supports a petition to compel under §17200(b)(7). A request for a copy of the trust’s terms carries no waiting period.

The bottom line

California replaced the mythical “reading of the will” with something enforceable: a 60-day notice to everyone with a conceivable stake, a guaranteed right to the full trust terms, and a hard 120-day contest window that only starts when the trustee does the job correctly. Trustees: serve everyone, use the exact bold warning, keep proof of mailing: the notice is what eventually makes your administration final. Beneficiaries and heirs: request the terms in writing and calendar the deadline, because it does not bend. If you’re a trustee staring at the 60-day clock, or you just got one of these notices and want to know what it means, Talk to Eric.

Sources: Prob. Code §16061.7(a)-(b), (g)-(h) (60-day notice to beneficiaries and heirs; required contents; verbatim 10-point boldface warning); §16061.8 (contest deadline: later of 120 days from service or 60 days from delivery of the terms); §16061.9 (trustee liability for damages, plus attorney’s fees and costs for a skipped beneficiary; subd. (c) withholding distributions during the window); §16060 (duty to keep beneficiaries reasonably informed); §16060.7 (duty to provide terms of the trust on request); §16062(a) (accounting at least annually, at termination, and on change of trustee).

Requesting the trust terms also affects your contest deadline, because the clock can extend to 60 days from delivery. See trust and probate litigation.