Trust Administration

You did not ask for this job. Someone named you trustee — a sign of real trust, and a real weight. California law imposes significant duties on successor trustees, most of them with specific deadlines, most of them unknown to people who have never done this before. We help trustees carry the responsibility without losing the estate in the process.

What California law requires of a trustee

When the person who created a revocable living trust dies, the successor trustee steps in to administer the estate. What comes next is not optional and not simple. Under the California Probate Code, the trustee must, within a defined period:

• Notify all beneficiaries and legal heirs of the trust’s existence and their right to receive a copy (Probate Code § 16061.7)
• Inventory and establish the value of all trust assets
• Identify creditors and handle outstanding debts and expenses
• File any required final income tax returns and, where applicable, an estate tax return
• Prepare a formal accounting for beneficiaries
• Distribute trust assets in accordance with the trust instrument

Each of those steps carries legal obligations. Miss a deadline or make the wrong move and the trustee can be held personally liable — to beneficiaries, to creditors, to the court. This is a position that rewards careful guidance and punishes improvisation.

If you are a trustee

We will walk you through every requirement — what you must do, in what order, on what timeline, and how to document it properly. We can manage the entire process on your behalf, or we can advise while you handle the administrative work yourself. Either way, you will not be guessing, and you will not be exposed.

Most people serve as trustee once in their lives. We do this work regularly. There is no substitute for having someone in your corner who knows where the traps are before you step into them.

If you are a beneficiary

Beneficiaries have real rights under California law — including the right to a complete accounting of trust assets, the right to information about how assets are being managed, and the right to hold a trustee accountable when they are not fulfilling their duties. If you have concerns about how a trust is being administered, we can review the situation and tell you honestly whether there is a problem and what your options are.

What makes trust administration difficult

The legal requirements are manageable when you know them. The harder part is usually the family. Trust administration happens in the weeks and months after someone’s death — when grief is fresh, when relationships are strained, and when long-standing disagreements about money have a way of coming forward. We have handled enough of these situations to know how to move the process forward without making those relationships worse.

The first conversation is always the right place to start. There is no fee for it, and it usually answers the questions that matter most.