2026 Trusts: Secure Your Children’s Future

Short answer: A trust lets you decide who manages your child’s inheritance and on what terms, instead of leaving that decision to a court. Assets left directly to a minor in California, even through a will, still have to pass through probate first, a court process that commonly takes 9 to 18 months, and the child then typically receives whatever is left with no conditions once they reach adulthood. A properly funded revocable living trust avoids that court process and lets you set your own terms for distribution.

What happens to a child’s inheritance if you don’t set up a trust?

Without a trust, an inheritance left to a minor child normally has to go through probate, California’s public, court-supervised process for validating a will and distributing an estate. A will by itself does not avoid probate. It only takes effect once a court validates it. Probate in California commonly takes 9 to 18 months from the time the court appoints a personal representative, and during that time nobody, including the guardian raising your child, has independent authority to spend the money for anything not already authorized. Once the money reaches a minor, it typically stays under court oversight until the child is legally an adult, at which point they get full, unsupervised control regardless of whether they are ready for it.

You can read more about how that process works on our probate page.

How does a trust for minor children actually work?

A trust is a legal arrangement where you, the grantor, transfer assets to a trustee, who manages and distributes them for the benefit of your children according to the terms you write. Most parents create a revocable living trust while they are alive, act as their own trustee, and name a successor trustee to take over for their children if something happens to them. A funded revocable living trust passes assets to your children outside of probate. If it is never funded, meaning assets are never retitled into the name of the trust, it does not avoid probate for whatever is left outside it.

Because the trustee holds a fiduciary duty, California law requires the trustee to administer the trust according to its terms and the law, and prohibits the trustee from using trust property for personal benefit. There is no fixed statutory deadline for distributing assets to a beneficiary, only a duty to act within a reasonable time, which is exactly why you want clear instructions written into the trust rather than left to guesswork. More on how these documents are structured is on our living trust page.

Who should you name as trustee?

The trustee manages your children’s inheritance for as long as the trust holds assets for them, so this decision matters as much as who you name as guardian. You can name a family member, a professional fiduciary, or both in succession. If your trust document specifies how the trustee is to be paid, that controls. If the trust is silent on compensation, the trustee is entitled to reasonable compensation under the circumstances, since California has no fixed statutory percentage fee for trustees the way it does for probate executors.

Name at least one successor trustee in case your first choice cannot serve, and consider a professional trustee for larger or more complicated trusts. Whoever you pick, put your intentions on paper. Broad discretion without direction leaves the trustee guessing what you would have wanted for your child’s education, healthcare, or age at which they should receive money outright.

Can a trust protect a child with special needs?

Yes, with the right structure. A special needs trust is designed to pay for a child’s supplemental needs, things like therapy, equipment, or personal care, without disqualifying the child from means-tested government benefits such as SSI or Medi-Cal. Assets held directly in a child’s own name, or in the wrong kind of trust, can put that eligibility at risk. If your child has a disability, this is not a decision to make without an attorney who understands both trust law and the benefits rules involved.

What happens when you die and the trust takes over?

When a revocable trust becomes irrevocable, which typically happens at the grantor’s death, the trustee must send a formal notice to all beneficiaries and legal heirs within 60 days. That notice starts a 120-day window during which the trust can be contested. Beneficiaries, or someone acting on behalf of a minor beneficiary, are entitled to accountings from the trustee, and can petition the court to compel an accounting, get instructions, or in serious cases remove the trustee. Naming the trust itself, rather than your minor child directly, as the beneficiary of a life insurance policy or retirement account is generally how parents route that money into the same structure governing everything else. Our trust administration page walks through what a trustee has to do step by step.

What does it cost to set up a trust for your children?

Ridley Law’s flat fee for a complete trust-based estate plan, which includes a revocable living trust, pour-over will, and incapacity documents, is $4,100 for a married couple and $3,700 for a single person. That is a fixed, known cost up front, compared with the uncertainty of what a court-supervised guardianship or probate proceeding could run your family later.

Figures verified July 2026.

What to do next

If your children are minors, naming a guardian in your will is not enough by itself. Pair it with a funded trust that names a trustee, states your instructions, and keeps a court out of your children’s inheritance. Talk with an estate planning attorney about what structure fits your family and your children’s ages and needs.