California trust administration · from $6,500 flat

You have been named successor trustee. The clock has started.

Within 60 days you must serve a notice under Probate Code § 16061.7 — and that notice opens a 120‑day window in which the trust can be contested. Until it is served correctly, that window does not start.

Thirty free minutes will tell you exactly what you are required to do, and by when.

Schedule a free consultation

Thirty minutes by phone or Zoom. No charge, no obligation.

When did they die?

When suits you?

Phone or video?

Your name

Phone

Or call 818‑634‑8898 — if I cannot pick up, leave a brief message and I will call you straight back.

Admitted: California, 2004
Where: All 58 counties
Consultation: Free, by phone or video
Verify me: Bar No. 233854

The clock started when they died.

Being named successor trustee is a job, not an honour, and some of it is on a statutory deadline. This is the part nobody explains:

Within 60 days

Serve notice under Probate Code § 16061.7 on every beneficiary and every heir. Not just the people who inherit — the heirs too, including ones who get nothing.

120 days

The contest window. That notice starts a 120‑day period in which someone can challenge the trust. Until the notice is served correctly, the contest period does not start — and a trustee who fails to serve it can be personally liable for the harm (§ 16061.9).

Months 1–6

Marshal the assets, retitle property out of the trust, deal with creditors, and coordinate the final income tax returns with a CPA.

Before you distribute

An accounting. Distribute early or distribute wrong and you are personally liable to the beneficiaries for it.

The part that catches people

You are a fiduciary now. That means you owe legal duties to every beneficiary, you can be sued personally for getting it wrong, and "I didn't know" is not a defence. Doing it alone can look like saving money until something goes wrong.

What I do, and what it costs.

From $6,500 flat, quoted after a free consultation once I know what the estate actually holds. Not hourly — you will know the number before I start.

Entirely remote

No courthouse, no office

Trust administration happens outside court, so all of it runs by phone, video and email. I work with successor trustees in all 58 California counties.

Deadlines handled

The notices go out on time

§ 16061.7 notice drafted and served correctly, the contest window closed properly, and a record that shows it was done.

Start to finish

Through to distribution

Successor trustee deeds, asset transfers, creditor and tax coordination, the final accounting, and distribution to the beneficiaries.

If you are inside the first 60 days, call rather than wait.

A late notice can still be served, but the contest period only starts when it is, and the delay is the trustee's personal risk. A thirty minute conversation now will tell you what you are required to do and by when — at no charge, whether or not you hire me.

Schedule a free consultation or call 818‑634‑8898