El texto completo de esta guía está en inglés; el resumen anterior está en su idioma. Los resúmenes de las leyes y el inglés siguen siendo la fuente de referencia.
Getting started · 6 min de lectura
Accepting (or rejecting) the trusteeship
California treats becoming trustee as a choice with a deadline attached. Under §15600, a person named as trustee accepts by signing the trust instrument or a separate written acceptance, or by knowingly exercising powers or performing duties under the instrument; where trust property is at immediate risk of damage, the named trustee may act to preserve it without accepting, if a written rejection follows within a reasonable time.
Rejection is a recognized path, but silence is not neutral: under §15601, a named trustee may reject in writing, and a person who does not accept within a reasonable time after learning of being named has rejected the trust. A person who rejects is not liable with respect to the trust, and the instrument's succession provisions — or, failing them, §15660 — decide who serves.
The standard that governs everything else
Once the office is accepted, §16000 provides the umbrella duty: on acceptance, the trustee administers the trust according to the trust instrument and, except to the extent the instrument provides otherwise, according to the Trust Law. The instrument comes first in most things — but not in all: a settlor's waiver of the notification by trustee is void (§16061.7(i)), and so is a waiver of the beneficiaries' rights to the terms and to requested information (§16068).
The particular duties follow from §16000: loyalty (§16002), impartiality (§16003), prudence (§16040 and the prudent investor rule of §16047), control and preservation of the property (§16006), keeping it separate (§16009), keeping the beneficiaries reasonably informed (§16060) and accounting (§16062).
The first dated step: the notification by trustee
California dates the opening of an administration. When a settlor's death makes a revocable trust irrevocable, §16061.7 provides for a notification by trustee to each beneficiary and to each heir of the deceased settlor, not later than 60 days after the death, by a §1215 method to the last known address. Its contents are the section's list — who made the trust and when, each trustee's name, address and telephone number, the principal place of administration, anything the instrument requires, and the right to request the terms — and, for a death, a warning in boldface about the time to contest the trust.
Each recipient's period to contest runs from that recipient's service: 120 days, or 60 days after a copy of the terms is delivered during that period, whichever is later (§16061.8). A trustee who fails to serve the notification answers for the damages the failure causes, unless a reasonably diligent effort was made (§16061.9). TrusteeClear shows a California consumer the statute's own lists; it does not prepare the notification.
The estate beside the trust
A revocable trust rarely holds everything. Property left outside it passes under the will or by intestacy — through a probate administration, or through a shorter route where one applies, such as the affidavit for personal property after 40 days (§13100). The will's custodian delivers it to the superior court clerk within 30 days after learning of the death (§8200), whether or not a probate follows.
Two other clocks run from the death and often surprise a new trustee: the change in ownership statement for California real property in the trust, within 150 days (Rev. & Tax. Code §480(b)), and the notice to the Director of Health Care Services within 90 days where the settlor or the settlor's spouse received Medi-Cal (§§19202, 215).
Las leyes, textualmente
Acceptance of the trust
Prob. Code §15600 ↗Explicación clara y sencilla; el texto literal del estatuto aún no está atestiguado en nuestra biblioteca. Consulte el estatuto oficial en el enlace de arriba.
Rejection of the trust
Prob. Code §15601 ↗Explicación clara y sencilla; el texto literal del estatuto aún no está atestiguado en nuestra biblioteca. Consulte el estatuto oficial en el enlace de arriba.
Duty to administer the trust
Prob. Code §16000 ↗Explicación clara y sencilla; el texto literal del estatuto aún no está atestiguado en nuestra biblioteca. Consulte el estatuto oficial en el enlace de arriba.
Notification by trustee
Prob. Code §16061.7 ↗Explicación clara y sencilla; el texto literal del estatuto aún no está atestiguado en nuestra biblioteca. Consulte el estatuto oficial en el enlace de arriba.
Preguntas frecuentes
Do I have to accept the trusteeship?
No. Under §15600 a named trustee accepts by signing the instrument or a written acceptance, or by knowingly exercising trust powers; under §15601 the trustee may reject in writing, and not accepting within a reasonable time after learning of being named is a rejection.
Does a California trustee have to notify the beneficiaries when the settlor dies?
Yes. §16061.7 provides for a notification by trustee to each beneficiary and each heir of the deceased settlor not later than 60 days after the death, with the contents the section lists and the contest warning of subdivision (h); a settlor cannot waive it.
Where do a California trustee's duties actually come from?
From the instrument and the Trust Law together: §16000 has the trustee administer according to the instrument and, except as it provides otherwise, the Trust Law, whose sections from §16000 on set out the particular duties — and some of which, such as the notification and the information rights, the instrument cannot waive (§§16061.7(i), 16068).
Lecturas relacionadas
El Centro de Aprendizaje es información general sobre la ley de California — no es asesoría legal ni sustituye el consejo de un abogado de California con licencia sobre sus hechos específicos. TrusteeClear es software, no un bufete.