# Settlor: Definition and How It Works in California

> A settlor is the person who creates a trust and transfers property into it.

Source: https://ridleylawoffices.com/estate-planning-glossary-california/settlor/

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

A **settlor** is the person who creates a trust and transfers property into it. Trust documents also use trustor or grantor for the same role, and in a typical living trust the settlor also serves as the first trustee and the lifetime beneficiary.

## How it works in California

Ridley Law’s discussion of [what happens when a beneficiary dies before the settlor](https://ridleylawoffices.com/beneficiary-dies-before-settlor-california/) shows how the settlor’s own choices control the outcome. California’s Probate Code does not define “settlor” in one place, but it does spell out the ways someone becomes one: by declaring themselves trustee of property, by transferring property to a trustee during life, by transferring property by will, by exercising a power of appointment in favor of a trustee, or by making an enforceable promise to create a trust (Prob. Code, § 15200).

Most people who set up a [revocable trust](https://ridleylawoffices.com/estate-planning-glossary-california/revocable-trust/) for themselves remain free to change or cancel it for as long as they are alive and capable, since the settlor is the one holding that power.

## Why it matters

Who counts as the settlor matters for questions of legal authority. Only the settlor, or an agent acting under a power of attorney that specifically grants that authority, can amend or revoke the trust. For example, adult children sometimes assume they can direct changes to an aging parent’s trust without a valid financial power of attorney that grants that specific power, and they cannot.

## Common mistakes

People sometimes treat “grantor,” “trustor,” and “settlor” as if they were legally different roles; they are different names for the same role. Assuming the settlor and the trustee are always different people is another mistake; in most living trusts they start out as the same person, with a successor trustee named to take over later.

## Related terms

- [Trustee](https://ridleylawoffices.com/estate-planning-glossary-california/trustee/): the settlor is often the first trustee too.
- [Revocable Trust](https://ridleylawoffices.com/estate-planning-glossary-california/revocable-trust/): most settlors create a trust they can still change themselves.
- [Living Trust](https://ridleylawoffices.com/estate-planning-glossary-california/living-trust/): the settlor is the person who signs a living trust into existence.
- [Beneficiary](https://ridleylawoffices.com/estate-planning-glossary-california/beneficiary/): the settlor is usually the lifetime beneficiary of their own trust.
- [Grantor Trust](https://ridleylawoffices.com/estate-planning-glossary-california/grantor-trust/): a trust whose income is taxed to the person who created it.

Part of the [California estate planning glossary](https://ridleylawoffices.com/estate-planning-glossary-california/). For the full treatment, see [What Happens If a Beneficiary Dies Before the Settlor?](https://ridleylawoffices.com/beneficiary-dies-before-settlor-california/)