Sample Living Trust in California: A Plain-Language Walk-Through

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

If you’re looking for a sample living trust, you probably want to see what the document does before you pay for one, or you’re wondering whether a template will do. A template is where that second question runs into trouble. Every clause answers a question, and the Probate Code supplies a default answer for any question the document skips. The default often isn’t the one a family would have picked. For the free forms and what they leave out, see free living trust forms in California, and for the statutes behind the clauses, see California living trust laws.

What a sample living trust must say to exist and must decide to work

The law asks for very little, so a document can be a valid trust and still miss the clauses that matter. A trust exists only if the settlor properly manifests an intention to create one (Prob. Code, § 15201). A trust other than a charitable trust also needs a beneficiary, or a class of beneficiaries that can be determined (Prob. Code, § 15205). You can create it by declaring that you hold your property as trustee, or by transferring property to a trustee (Prob. Code, § 15200). A trust that holds real property has to be evidenced by a signed writing or by operation of law (Prob. Code, § 15206).

An invented couple, Elena and Marcus Hale, with three adult children, Nora, Owen and Priya, will carry the examples through this page. Everything beyond the bare minimum is a drafting decision.

Who the trust is, and who’s in charge of it

Start by naming who holds the property and whether the trust is revocable, because every later clause refers back to those people. A living trust that doesn’t say it’s irrevocable is revocable by the settlor (Prob. Code, § 15400). For married couples, the settlors are usually also the first trustees, so the same people make the rules and follow them.

While a trust is revocable and at least one person holding the power to revoke is competent, that person, and not the beneficiary, has the rights beneficiaries would otherwise have, and the trustee’s duties are owed to that person (Prob. Code, § 15800, subd. (a)). Your children generally can’t demand accountings from you while you’re in charge.

Say who can sign alone, because unless the instrument says otherwise, a power held by two or more trustees can be exercised only by their unanimous action (Prob. Code, § 15620). Two adult children serving as co-trustees after both parents are gone have to agree on every check, every sale and every vendor. If one of them stops answering, the trust stalls. A clause can set a different rule.

How the trust is changed, and who can’t change it

A signed writing delivered to the trustee during the settlor’s life revokes the trust unless the instrument explicitly makes its own method the exclusive one (Prob. Code, § 15401, subd. (a)), and a method the instrument provides also revokes it. Unless the instrument says otherwise, the settlor modifies the trust by the same procedure (Prob. Code, § 15402). If a trust has more than one settlor, each may revoke it as to the portion that settlor contributed, unless the instrument provides otherwise (Prob. Code, § 15401, subd. (b)(1)). Section 15401(b)(1) carves out Fam. Code, § 761, which lets either spouse revoke as to community property alone unless the instrument says otherwise (Fam. Code, § 761, subd. (b)).

A power of attorney agent can’t touch your trust by default. A trust may not be modified or revoked by an attorney in fact under a power of attorney unless the trust expressly permits it (Prob. Code, § 15401, subd. (c)). A trust can state that prohibition outright.

What happens when a settlor can no longer manage

Spend the most drafting time on incapacity, because this clause does the most work in real life and gets the least attention. The trust itself can define incapacity, and the statute lets that definition control when the notice duty to beneficiaries starts (Prob. Code, § 15800, subd. (c)(1)). A vague definition invites a fight at the worst moment. Most of the drafting is about who decides and on what evidence.

The last sentence in that illustration is a release for the medical information the physicians need, and it’s why my plan pairs the trust with HIPAA authorizations. Without it, the successor trustee can have a trust and no way to prove the trigger.

When the trigger is met, the successor trustee takes over. The statute also reaches the family: when no person holding the power to revoke is competent, the trustee has 60 days from receiving information establishing the incompetency of the last such person to give notice and a copy of the trust to each beneficiary who would receive a distribution if the settlor had died, unless the trust provides otherwise (Prob. Code, § 15800, subd. (b)(1)). A trust can address how much the children see while a parent is alive.

Name the successors in the trust itself, because the instrument controls when it names a person or a practical method. If it doesn’t, the vacancy is filled by a trust company the adult beneficiaries agree on, or by a court on petition (Prob. Code, § 15660, subds. (b) to (d)).

The chain has to cover removal too. A trustee may be removed in accordance with the trust instrument, or by the court on its own motion or on petition of a settlor, cotrustee or beneficiary (Prob. Code, § 15642, subd. (a)). For what the successor does, see what a successor trustee does in California.

Who gets what, and what one phrase can change

The distribution clause is where a sample is most dangerous to copy, because the same words produce different results in different families. The principle is that the transferor’s intention, as expressed in the instrument, controls (Prob. Code, § 21102, subd. (a)). The Probate Code’s rules of construction apply to a trust, and they fill the gaps (Prob. Code, §§ 21101, 21102, subd. (b)).

Take the Hales’ trust at the second death, with $900,000 left to divide among Nora, Owen and Priya. Priya died before her parents and left two children.

Silence on a child who dies first sends that child’s share to the child’s own children, because the default is that the issue of a deceased transferee take the transferee’s place, divided as the statute directs (Prob. Code, § 21110, subd. (a); § 240). Nora and Owen each receive $300,000, and Priya’s two children split $300,000, $150,000 each.

If the trust says “equal shares to my children who survive me,” the result changes. A transferee who fails to survive the transferor does not take (Prob. Code, § 21109, subd. (a)), and a requirement that the initial transferee survive the transferor is a contrary intention that defeats the substitution (Prob. Code, § 21110, subd. (b)). Nora and Owen each receive $450,000, and Priya’s children receive nothing. A survivorship phrase written to keep gifts from lapsing can disinherit grandchildren.

If the family has adoptions or stepchildren, write your own definition of “descendants” and “children,” because the statute’s default is a set of rules about half-bloods, adopted persons, children born outside marriage and others (Prob. Code, § 21115, subd. (a)). And California fixes what “per stirpes” means in an instrument executed on or after January 1, 1986: equal shares at the level of the designated ancestor’s children, with a deceased child’s share divided among that child’s living issue (Prob. Code, § 246, subds. (a), (b)). A clause that uses the term gets the statutory split unless it says otherwise. See per stirpes.

The trustee’s job, pay and powers

You don’t need to list every trustee power, because a trustee has the powers the trust gives, the powers the statute gives unless the trust limits them, and the power to do what a trustee would do under the standard of care (Prob. Code, § 16200). The default investment standard is that of a prudent investor, with reasonable care, skill and caution (Prob. Code, § 16047, subd. (a)). A trustee must also keep beneficiaries reasonably informed (Prob. Code, § 16060).

Set the trustee’s pay in the trust, because if the instrument doesn’t, the trustee gets reasonable compensation under the circumstances (Prob. Code, § 15681). That default suits a bank and fits a family member badly when a sibling suspects the pay is too high, so the trust should say.

Clauses that protect, and the limits on that protection

A spendthrift clause says a beneficiary can’t transfer an interest before receiving it and that creditors can’t reach it. California honors that for a beneficiary’s interest in income and in principal, with exceptions (Prob. Code, §§ 15300, 15301). It doesn’t protect the person who made the trust. If the settlor is a beneficiary of a trust the settlor created, a restraint on the settlor’s own interest is invalid against the settlor’s creditors (Prob. Code, § 15304, subd. (a)), and a revocable trust’s property is subject to the settlor’s creditors to the extent of the power of revocation during the settlor’s life (Prob. Code, § 18200). The clause can protect a child’s share while it stays in trust. It doesn’t stop your own creditors from reaching your assets while you’re alive. See spendthrift trusts.

A no-contest clause is narrower than people think. It’s enforced against a direct contest brought without probable cause. It reaches a challenge that the property wasn’t the transferor’s, or the filing of a creditor’s claim, only if the clause expressly says so (Prob. Code, § 21311, subd. (a)). “Direct contest” is defined by the grounds: forgery, lack of due execution, lack of capacity, menace, duress, fraud or undue influence, revocation, and disqualification of a beneficiary (Prob. Code, § 21310, subd. (b)). Probable cause exists if the facts known at filing would lead a reasonable person to believe there is a reasonable likelihood the requested relief will be granted after an opportunity for further investigation or discovery (Prob. Code, § 21311, subd. (b)). A clause that threatens “any challenge” won’t be enforced that broadly.

The first year after the maker dies

The trust document is written for the day it stops being revocable. Within 60 days of the death, the trustee serves a notification on each beneficiary and each heir of the deceased settlor (Prob. Code, § 16061.7). A person served may not bring an action to contest the trust more than 120 days after the notification is served, or 60 days after a copy of the trust terms is delivered within that period, whichever is later (Prob. Code, § 16061.8). For a trust that holds real property, the trustee files the change in ownership statement within 150 days after the date of death (Rev. & Tax. Code, § 480, subd. (b)). In the administrations I handle, an uncontested trust administration takes six to nine months.

The notice goes to people who may read the trust for the first time, and any clause that left a question open produces a letter and then a dispute. See trust administration in California.

The documents that hold the trust up

A trust is a set of instructions, and it governs only what it holds. Schedule A, the list of property attached to the trust, isn’t a transfer by itself. The house needs a deed, the accounts need retitling, and anything left out passes under the will. A pour-over will devises the rest to the trustee of the trust, as long as the trust is identified in the will and its terms are in a written instrument executed before, with, or within 60 days after the will (Prob. Code, § 6300). A certification of trust lets the trustee prove the trust’s existence and powers to a bank or title company without handing over the dispositive terms (Prob. Code, § 18100.5). See trust funding in California, how a house gets into a living trust and the certification of trust.

Why a form can’t do this job

The illustrations above would be dangerous as a template for the reason the page has been making: each clause fits the Hales and nobody else. A different family needs a different survivorship clause, a different successor chain and a different trustee-pay rule, and a template can’t ask. If you’re weighing a DIY trust, see making a living trust without a lawyer, and for the order of steps in a real plan, how to set up a living trust in California.

Working with Ridley Law

My revocable living trust plan is a flat $4,900 as of October 2026. It includes the trust, a pour-over will, two financial powers of attorney (a statutory form and a custom-written one), an advance health care directive with your health care power of attorney, a dementia directive, HIPAA authorizations, a certification of trust, up to two deeds transferring California real estate into the trust, signing at home with a notary, help retitling accounts and changing beneficiary designations, lifetime communication, and one year of free trust amendments. The fees page has the details.

Book my 30-minute call or call 805-244-5291.

Frequently asked questions

What should a California living trust include?

At minimum, the settlor’s intent to create a trust, a beneficiary or class of beneficiaries, and the trust property (Prob. Code, §§ 15201, 15205). A working trust also names trustees and successors, defines incapacity, says how it’s amended, states who receives what at death and what happens if a beneficiary dies first, and sets the trustee’s powers and pay.

Can I use a sample living trust as my own?

No. A sample shows the structure, but each clause answers questions about one family: who’s in charge if you’re incapacitated, what happens if a child dies first, and who can act with two trustees. A clause that fits one family can cut out grandchildren or stall a trust in another.

Does a living trust have to be notarized in California?

The creation rules cited above (Prob. Code, §§ 15200, 15201, 15205, 15206) don’t call for a notary. A deed moving real property into the trust does have to be acknowledged before it can be recorded (Gov. Code, § 27287), and banks and title companies expect a notarized signature. My plan includes signing at the client’s home with a notary.

How do I change a living trust?

By the method the trust provides, or by a signed writing delivered to the trustee, unless the trust makes its own method exclusive (Prob. Code, §§ 15401, 15402). In a trust with two settlors, each can revoke as to the portion that settlor contributed unless the trust says otherwise. An agent under a power of attorney can’t amend it unless the trust expressly allows that.

Can two people serve as co-trustees?

Yes, but unless the trust says otherwise, a power held by two or more trustees can be exercised only by unanimous action (Prob. Code, § 15620). Many trusts let either spouse act alone while both are living and require all trustees to sign for real property transactions.

What is a pour-over will, and do I need one with a trust?

A pour-over will gives anything you forgot to put in the trust to the trustee of the trust. It’s valid if the will identifies the trust and the trust’s terms are in a written instrument executed before, with, or within 60 days after the will (Prob. Code, § 6300). It covers what you missed and doesn’t replace retitling.

What is a certification of trust?

It’s a short signed and acknowledged statement by the trustee that confirms the trust exists, who the trustees are, their powers and whether it’s revocable. A bank or title company can accept it in place of the trust itself, and it doesn’t have to include the dispositive terms (Prob. Code, § 18100.5).