Trustee Notification After the Death of a Settlor in California
Updated: 4 days ago
When the settlor of a California revocable living trust dies, the successor trustee has 60 days to serve a written "notification by the trustee" on every trust beneficiary and every heir of the settlor. The duty comes from Probate Code section 16061.7. It cannot be waived by the trust instrument, and a trustee who skips it is personally exposed to damages.
The notice does two jobs. It tells the people with a stake in the estate that a trust exists, who is running it, and that they may ask for a copy. It also starts a short limitations clock: a person who is properly served generally has only 120 days to contest the trust.
This article walks through when the notice is required, who gets it, what it must say, how to serve it, and what happens when a trustee gets it wrong.
Why the law requires notice
A revocable living trust is private while the settlor is alive. During that period the trustee owes duties to the settlor, not to the future beneficiaries (Prob. Code, § 15800). Nothing is filed with a court, and the people named in the trust often have never seen it.
Death changes that. The trust, or part of it, becomes irrevocable, and the beneficiaries' interests become enforceable. Because no probate judge is supervising, the Legislature substituted a notice requirement for court oversight. The heirs are included even when they inherit nothing, because a disinherited heir is the person most likely to have standing to challenge the trust.
When notice is required
Section 16061.7(a) lists three triggering events. The first is the one most families encounter.
A revocable trust becomes irrevocable at death. Notice is required "[w]hen a revocable trust or any portion thereof becomes irrevocable because of the death of one or more of the settlors of the trust." The same rule applies when the trust's own terms make it irrevocable within one year of a settlor's death because of a contingency related to the death.
A change of trustee of an irrevocable trust. Each time a new trustee takes over an already-irrevocable trust, a fresh notice goes to the beneficiaries.
A retained power of appointment takes effect or lapses at the settlor's death, for a trust that was, or purported to be, irrevocable when created. Charitable remainder trusts are excluded from this third trigger.
"Any portion thereof": joint trusts and the first death
The words "any portion thereof" matter for married couples. Many joint trusts divide into subtrusts at the first spouse's death, and the deceased spouse's share (a bypass, exemption, or marital subtrust) becomes irrevocable at that point. The surviving spouse, as continuing trustee, must then serve the notice as to that irrevocable portion.
This is the notice most often missed. Surviving spouses frequently assume nothing happens until the second death. If the trust instead stays fully revocable by the survivor, no portion has become irrevocable and the first death does not trigger the notice. The answer depends on the trust's terms, so read them before deciding.
Whose duty it is
The duty belongs to "the continuing or successor trustee, and any one cotrustee may serve the notification" (§ 16061.7(a)(4)). Events before January 1, 1998 are exempt (§ 16061.7(j)).
Who must receive the notice
Section 16061.7(b) names three groups.
Recipient | When required | Statute |
Each beneficiary of the irrevocable trust or irrevocable portion | Always | § 16061.7(b)(1) |
Each heir of the deceased settlor | When the trigger is a settlor's death | § 16061.7(b)(2) |
The Attorney General | When the trust is a charitable trust subject to Attorney General supervision | § 16061.7(b)(3) |
Beneficiaries
Every beneficiary counts, not only those receiving an immediate distribution. That includes remainder beneficiaries, contingent beneficiaries, and charities named for specific gifts. Section 15804 narrows the list where interests are held by unborn or unascertained persons or depend on future events, so a trust with layered contingent gifts needs a careful read of that section.
Heirs
An heir is a person who would inherit from the settlor under the intestate succession statutes if there were no will or trust (Prob. Code, §§ 44, 6400 et seq.). Heirs must be served whether or not the trust names them. A child left out of the trust still gets the notice.
Identifying heirs is the trustee's job. Under subdivision (c), the trustee must rely on any final judicial determination of heirship known to the trustee. Without one, the trustee has "discretion to make a good faith determination by any reasonable means." In practice that means building a family tree from the settlor's records and relatives, and writing down what was done.
People the trustee cannot find
The trustee need not serve a beneficiary or heir who is unknown to the trustee, or who is known but "cannot be located by the trustee after reasonable diligence" (§ 16061.7(d)). Keep a record of the search. A person discovered later must be served within 60 days of discovery.
Optional extra recipients
A trustee may also serve anyone else, and has no liability for serving or not serving those additional people (§ 16061.7(j)). Trustees sometimes use this to serve a person whose status as an heir is uncertain.
The 60-day deadline
The notice "shall be served not later than 60 days following the occurrence of the event requiring service" (§ 16061.7(f)). For a death, the 60 days run from the date of death.
The statute adjusts the deadline in two situations:
Later-discovered persons. If a beneficiary or heir was not known to the trustee at the death, the trustee has 60 days from becoming aware of that person.
Vacancy in the trusteeship. If there is no trustee at the death, or the death itself creates the vacancy (the settlor was the sole trustee), the 60 days start when the new trustee "commences to serve as trustee."
The vacancy rule covers the common case of a single settlor who was also sole trustee. The successor's clock starts on acceptance of the trusteeship, not on the date of death. A successor who delays accepting should not assume the delay is free, because the beneficiaries can petition the court to fill the vacancy.
Missing the 60 days does not make a late notice ineffective. Section 16061.8 applies "whether the notice is served on the person within or after the time period set forth in subdivision (f)." A late notice still starts the contest clock; the lateness goes to the trustee's liability, discussed below.
What the notice must say
There is no Judicial Council form. The trustee drafts the notice, and section 16061.7(g) requires five items:
The identity of the settlor or settlors and the date the trust instrument was executed.
The name, address, and telephone number of each trustee.
The address of the physical location where the principal place of administration of the trust is located (see Prob. Code, § 17002). A post office box does not satisfy "physical location."
Any additional information the trust instrument expressly requires.
A statement that the recipient is entitled, upon reasonable request to the trustee, to receive a true and complete copy of the terms of the trust.
The mandatory warning
When the notice is triggered by a settlor's death, subdivision (h) requires a warning "set out in a separate paragraph in not less than 10-point boldface type, or a reasonable equivalent thereof." The statute supplies the words:
"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."
Copy this language exactly. Do not paraphrase it, fold it into another paragraph, or shrink the type. The warning is what entitles the trustee to the 120-day bar, and courts have insisted on compliance with the statutory text before enforcing that bar (see Germino v. Hillyer (2003) 107 Cal.App.4th 951).
What is commonly added
Good practice goes beyond the minimum. Many trustees also include the settlor's date of death, the dates of any amendments, and a complete copy of the trust and all amendments. Enclosing the copy has a specific limitations benefit, covered in the contest-period section below.
How to serve the notice
The notice "shall be served by any of the methods described in Section 1215 to the last known address" (§ 16061.7(e)). Section 1215 permits delivery by mail, by personal delivery, and by electronic delivery on the conditions that section states.
Mail is the standard choice. First-class mail satisfies the statute, and many trustees use certified mail with return receipt, or send both, to have proof that the notice went out. Electronic delivery under section 1215 depends on the recipient's consent, so email alone is a risk a trustee has no reason to take.
Three practical points:
Serve each person separately. A married couple who are both beneficiaries get two notices.
Minors and incapacitated persons. Serve the parent, guardian, or conservator on the person's behalf, and note the capacity on the proof of service.
Prepare a proof of service. Nothing is filed with the court, but the trustee will need to prove the date and manner of service if a contest is later filed. A signed declaration of mailing by someone other than the trustee, kept with the trust records, is the usual method.
The date of service is the date that matters for the contest period. For a mailed notice, that is the date of mailing, not the date of receipt.
The 120-day contest period
Probate Code section 16061.8 is the reason the notice matters so much to trustees. A person served with a death-triggered notice "shall not bring an action to contest the trust more than 120 days from the date the notification by the trustee is served upon the person, or 60 days from the date on which a copy of the terms of the trust is delivered pursuant to Section 1215 to the person during that 120-day period, whichever is later."
How the two periods work together
The base period is 120 days from service. The 60-day alternative only matters when a copy of the trust is delivered during the 120 days and late enough that 60 days from delivery lands after day 120.
An example: the trustee mails the notice on March 2, 2026, without a copy of the trust. The 120th day is June 30, 2026. The heir requests the trust, and the trustee delivers it on May 21, 2026. Sixty days from delivery is July 20, 2026, which is later, so July 20 is the deadline.
Had the trustee enclosed the complete trust with the March 2 notice, 60 days from delivery would have expired first and the deadline would have stayed at June 30. That is why many trustees send the full trust and all amendments with the notice.
Points that are easy to get wrong
The clock runs per person. Each recipient's 120 days starts on the date that person was served. Someone who was never served is not bound by the 120-day bar.
Mailing does not add time. The Court of Appeal has held that the five-day mail extension of Code of Civil Procedure section 1013 does not lengthen the period (Bridgeman v. Allen (2013) 219 Cal.App.4th 288).
Amendments are covered. A challenge to a trust amendment is a contest of the trust for this purpose (Straley v. Gamble (2013) 217 Cal.App.4th 533).
Only death-triggered notices carry the bar. Section 16061.8 refers to notices served under subdivision (a)(1). A change-of-trustee notice does not start a contest clock.
It is not the only deadline. Claims for breach of trust, to compel an accounting, or on a decedent's promise to leave property are governed by other statutes, including Probate Code section 16460 and Code of Civil Procedure section 366.3.
The reference to delivery "pursuant to Section 1215" was added effective January 1, 2023 (Stats. 2022, ch. 30). Older articles that describe the copy as "mailed or personally delivered" are quoting the prior version.
No-contest clauses
A beneficiary thinking about a contest has a second risk. If the trust has a no-contest clause, a direct contest brought without probable cause can forfeit the contestant's gift (Prob. Code, § 21311). The 120 days is therefore the period for both investigating the claim and weighing that risk.
The right to a copy of the trust
Under Probate Code section 16061.5, the trustee "shall provide a true and complete copy of the terms of the irrevocable trust, or irrevocable portion of the trust," to any beneficiary who requests it and to "any heir of a deceased settlor who requests it." The Attorney General has the same right for supervised charitable trusts.
"Terms of the trust" is a defined phrase. It includes the original instrument and the amendments, and the disclosure owed after a death reaches the documents needed to understand the irrevocable trust (Prob. Code, § 16060.5). A trustee who sends only the last amendment, or a redacted excerpt, has not sent a true and complete copy.
Two points for trustees:
Heirs get the copy too. A disinherited child is entitled to read the trust that disinherits them. Refusing invites a petition and a fee request.
A refusal can be enforced in court. A beneficiary may petition the probate court to compel the trustee to provide the terms of the trust (Prob. Code, § 17200(b)(7)).
For a joint trust at the first death, the right reaches the irrevocable portion. The surviving spouse's own revocable share stays private while the survivor holds the power to revoke it.
What happens if the trustee does not serve the notice
The failure has two consequences: personal liability for the trustee, and a contest period that never starts.
Personal liability
Probate Code section 16061.9 draws a line between beneficiaries and heirs.
Person not served | Trustee's exposure | Defense |
Beneficiary | "all damages, attorney's fees, and costs caused by the failure" | The trustee made "a reasonably diligent effort to comply" |
Heir who is not a beneficiary and whose identity is known to the trustee | "all damages caused to the heir by the failure" | The trustee delivered notice under section 1215 to the heir's last address actually known to the trustee |
The attorney's fees exposure to beneficiaries is unusual in California and is reason enough to treat the notice as mandatory housekeeping.
An open-ended contest window
The 120-day bar applies only to a person "upon whom the notification by the trustee is served." Without service, that person's time to contest is governed by the longer general limitations rules. A trustee who distributes the estate and is then sued by an unserved heir may be trying to recover assets from beneficiaries who have already spent them.
Other remedies
Failure to serve is a breach of the trustee's duty to keep beneficiaries informed. A beneficiary can petition under Probate Code section 17200 to compel the notice and the copy of the trust. Persistent refusal supports surcharge, denial of trustee compensation, and removal (Prob. Code, §§ 15642, 16420).
Waiting to distribute
Section 16061.9(c) gives trustees express cover for patience. A trustee, "in exercising discretion with respect to the timing and nature of distributions of trust assets, may consider the fact that the period in which a beneficiary or heir could bring an action to contest the trust has not expired." Holding substantial distributions until the 120 days has run for everyone served is prudent and defensible.
Other notices triggered by the same death
The section 16061.7 notice is one of several deadlines that start at the settlor's death. Trustees usually handle them together.
Task | Deadline | Authority |
Lodge the settlor's original will with the superior court, and mail a copy to the named executor | 30 days after learning of the death | Prob. Code, § 8200 |
Serve the notification by the trustee | 60 days after the death | Prob. Code, § 16061.7 |
Notify the Department of Health Care Services if the settlor received, or may have received, Medi-Cal benefits | 90 days after the death | Prob. Code, §§ 215, 19202 |
File a Change in Ownership Statement (Death of Real Property Owner) with the assessor of each county where the trust holds real property | 150 days after the death | Rev. & Tax. Code, § 480(b) |
Three further points belong on the same list:
Creditors. A trustee is not required to notify the settlor's creditors, but may use the optional trust claims procedure to cut off claims sooner (Prob. Code, § 19000 et seq.). Otherwise the general one-year limit after death applies (Code Civ. Proc., § 366.2).
Accountings. Once the trust is irrevocable, the trustee must keep beneficiaries reasonably informed and account at least annually, unless the trust validly waives it (Prob. Code, §§ 16060, 16062, 16064).
Taxes. An irrevocable trust needs its own taxpayer identification number, and the settlor's final income tax returns are still due.
Common mistakes
Serving only the beneficiaries. Heirs who take nothing are the recipients the statute most plainly protects, and the ones most likely to sue.
Skipping the notice at the first spouse's death when part of a joint trust became irrevocable.
Rewording the warning, or setting it in ordinary type inside another paragraph.
Listing a post office box as the place of administration.
Sending the notice without the trust, then delivering a copy late in the 120 days and extending the contest deadline.
Keeping no proof of service. The trustee carries the burden of showing when each person was served.
Distributing before the contest period ends for every person served.
Treating the notice as an accounting. It is neither an inventory nor a report of trust assets, and it does not start the limitations period for breach-of-trust claims.
A trustee's checklist
Obtain certified death certificates and locate the original trust, every amendment, and the original will.
Confirm from the trust terms which portion became irrevocable and who is now trustee; sign an acceptance of trusteeship.
List every beneficiary, including remainder and contingent beneficiaries and charities.
Determine the settlor's heirs under the intestacy statutes and document how.
Find a last known address for each person; record the search for anyone who cannot be located.
Draft the notice with the five items in section 16061.7(g) and the subdivision (h) warning, verbatim, in a separate boldface paragraph of at least 10-point type.
Enclose a complete copy of the trust and all amendments, unless there is a considered reason not to.
Serve each person within 60 days of the death, by a section 1215 method, and sign a proof of service.
Serve the Attorney General if the trust is a supervised charitable trust.
Calendar day 120 for each person served, and 60 days from any later delivery of the trust.
Answer every request for a copy of the trust promptly and record the delivery date.
Complete the will lodging, Medi-Cal notice, and assessor filing on their own deadlines.
If you received a notice
A beneficiary or heir who receives the notification should act on it within days, not months.
Write down the date on the proof of service or postmark and count 120 days from it.
Request a complete copy of the trust and all amendments in writing if one was not enclosed.
Read the trust for a no-contest clause before filing anything.
If something looks wrong (a late amendment, a new beneficiary who was a caregiver, a settlor with diminished capacity), see a trust litigation attorney well before the deadline. A contest filed on day 121 is barred regardless of its merits.
The bottom line
The notification by the trustee is a short document with outsized consequences. Served correctly and on time, it informs the family, limits the trustee's exposure, and closes the window for contests after 120 days. Served late, incompletely, or not at all, it leaves the trustee personally liable and the trust open to challenge long after the assets are gone.
This article is general information about California law as of its date and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Trust administration and trust contests turn on the specific terms of the instrument and the facts; consult a qualified California attorney about your situation.
Sources
Probate Code § 16061.5 (copy of the terms of the trust)
Probate Code § 16061.7 (notification by the trustee)
Probate Code § 16061.8 (120-day contest period)
Probate Code § 16061.9 (liability for failure to serve)
Statutory quotations are from the 2025 California Code as published by Justia. Other code sections and the cases cited were not pulled for this draft and should be cite-checked before publication.
Disclaimer
General information only. This article is provided for general informational and educational purposes. It is not legal, tax, or financial advice, and it is not a substitute for advice from an attorney who has reviewed your trust instrument and your facts.
No attorney-client relationship. Reading this article, or contacting the author or publisher about it, does not create an attorney-client relationship. Do not send confidential information until a written engagement agreement is in place.
California law, as of the date shown. This article discusses California law only and reflects the statutes and decisions in effect on the date at the top of the page. Laws change, courts interpret them differently over time, and the article may not be updated. Verify every statute and case citation against a current official source before relying on it.
Deadlines are strict and fact-specific. The 60-day and 120-day periods described here depend on the trust’s terms, the date and manner of service, and other facts. The dates in the examples are illustrations, not a calculation of any deadline that applies to you. Missing a deadline can permanently bar a claim or expose a trustee to personal liability. If a deadline may be running, consult a qualified California attorney immediately.
No guarantee. The author and publisher make no warranty about the accuracy, completeness, or current validity of this article and disclaim liability for any action taken or not taken in reliance on it. To the extent this article is considered attorney advertising, it is not a guarantee, warranty, or prediction of the outcome of any matter.
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