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A California trustee accounts at least annually, at the termination of the trust and on a change of trustee, to each beneficiary to whom income or principal is required or authorized to be currently distributed (Prob. Code §16062). The account shows receipts and disbursements, assets and liabilities, the trustee's compensation and agents, and two statements §16063 requires; a claim it adequately discloses is barred three years after receipt (§16460).
Dernière vérification par rapport aux California Statutes et mise à jour : 2026-10-06.
Who owes an account, and to whom
The duty is the trustee's, and it runs to a defined group: each beneficiary to whom income or principal is required, or authorized in the trustee's discretion, to be currently distributed (Prob. Code §16062(a)). A remainder beneficiary who receives nothing now is not in that group for the periodic account, though the duty to keep beneficiaries reasonably informed (§16060) and the right to requested information (§16061) reach further.
Some trusts are outside the duty altogether. A living trust created by an instrument executed before July 1, 1987, and a testamentary trust under a will executed before that date, are not subject to it, with the exception §16062(c) states for a testamentary trust removed from continuing court jurisdiction. And no account is owed to a beneficiary of a revocable trust while it may be revoked, or where the beneficiary and the trustee are the same person (§16069(a)) — though when no holder of the power to revoke is competent, the account is owed to the beneficiaries §15800(b) names (§16069(b)).
When an account is due
California's account is periodic, not on demand: at least annually, at the termination of the trust, and upon a change of trustee (§16062(a)). The first account usually runs from the date the trust became irrevocable, or the date the trusteeship began, to the end of the trust's first fiscal year.
A beneficiary does not have to wait for the trustee. Where a trustee has failed to submit a requested account within 60 days after the beneficiary's written request, and no account was made in the six months before the request, the beneficiary may petition the court to compel the account, subject to §16064 (§17200(b)(7)(C)).
Délais du trustee en Californie : ce que prévoient les lois
Vérifié par rapport aux California Statutes le 2026-10-06. Information générale, pas un avis juridique ; le texte officiel fait foi.
| Quand | Délai | Ce que prévoit la loi | À qui | Loi |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| You learn you are named successor trustee | No fixed day-count. Not accepting within a reasonable time after learning of being named is a rejection of the trust. | Accept the trust by signing the instrument or a separate written acceptance, or by knowingly exercising powers or performing duties; or reject it in writing. Where trust property is at immediate risk, the section lets a named trustee act to preserve it without accepting, if a written rejection follows within a reasonable time. | — | Prob. Code §15600, §15601 ↗ |
| You accept | At once and throughout; no day-count. | Administer the trust according to the trust instrument and, except to the extent the instrument provides otherwise, according to the Trust Law. | — | Prob. Code §16000 ↗ |
| You accept | At once and throughout; no day-count. | Take reasonable steps under the circumstances to take and keep control of and to preserve the trust property. | — | Prob. Code §16006 ↗ |
| You accept, or trust assets come to you | Within a reasonable time; the section gives no day-count. | Review the trust assets and make and carry out decisions about keeping or disposing of them, to bring the portfolio into line with the trust's purposes, terms and distribution requirements and the prudent investor rule. | — | Prob. Code §16049 ↗ |
| A settlor's death makes the trust, or a part of it, irrevocable | Not later than 60 days after the death. Where the office of trustee was vacant at the death, or the death made it vacant, the 60 days run from the day the new trustee begins to serve. | The statute provides for a notification by trustee to each beneficiary and to each heir of the deceased settlor, served by mail or personal delivery to the last known address (§1215). Its contents are listed in subdivision (g), and for a death it carries the contest warning of subdivision (h), in English, in a separate paragraph in boldface. | Each beneficiary and each heir of the deceased settlor | Prob. Code §16061.7(a)(1), (f) ↗ |
| The trustee of an irrevocable trust changes | Not later than 60 days after the change. | The notification by trustee goes to each beneficiary on a change of trustee of an irrevocable trust; the contest warning applies only to the death events. | Each beneficiary | Prob. Code §16061.7(a)(2), (f) ↗ |
| You learn of a person entitled to the notification who was not known at the event | Not later than 60 days after you become aware of the person. | The 60 days run separately for a beneficiary or heir the trustee did not know of when the event occurred. | The person newly known | Prob. Code §16061.7(f) ↗ |
| The notification is served on a recipient | 120 days after service, or 60 days after a copy of the terms is delivered during that 120-day period, whichever is later. | The period in which that recipient may bring an action to contest the trust. The period runs for each recipient from that recipient's own service date; the file records the dates and concludes nothing about them. | — | Prob. Code §16061.8 ↗ |
| A beneficiary, or after a settlor's death an heir, asks for the terms of the irrevocable trust | The section names no day-count; a beneficiary may petition the court to compel a copy of the terms (§17200(b)(7)(A)). | Provide a true and complete copy of the terms of the irrevocable trust, or its irrevocable portion, to the person who asks, as the section provides. | The beneficiary or heir who asks | Prob. Code §16061.5 ↗ |
| A beneficiary makes a reasonable request for information about the administration | The section names no day-count. Where requested information is not provided within 60 days after a reasonable written request, and none was provided in the six months before it, the beneficiary may petition to compel it (§17200(b)(7)(B)). | Report the requested information relating to the administration of the trust that is relevant to the beneficiary's interest; the duty to keep beneficiaries reasonably informed is §16060. | The beneficiary who asks | Prob. Code §16061 ↗ |
| Each accounting period; the trust's termination; a change of trustee | At least annually, at the termination of the trust, and on a change of trustee. Where a requested account is not given within 60 days after a written request, and none was made in the six months before it, the beneficiary may petition to compel it (§17200(b)(7)(C)). | Account to each beneficiary to whom income or principal is required or authorized in the trustee's discretion to be currently distributed, with the contents §16063 lists. The exceptions and waivers are §16064; instruments executed before July 1, 1987 are excepted as the section states. | The current beneficiaries the section names | Prob. Code §16062 ↗ |
| While the trust is revocable, you receive information establishing that the last person holding the power to revoke is not competent | Within 60 days of receiving that information. | Give notice that the subdivision applies, with a true and complete copy of the trust instrument and any amendments, to each beneficiary the trustee would be required or authorized to pay had the settlor died on that date. Incompetency is established by the instrument's method or a court's determination (subdivision (c)). | The beneficiaries the subdivision names | Prob. Code §15800(b) ↗ |
| A death transfers an interest in California real property, including property held in the trust | Within 150 days after the date of death. For property in a probate estate, the personal representative files at or before the filing of the inventory and appraisal. | The trustee, where the property was held in trust, files a change in ownership statement with the county recorder or assessor in each county where the decedent owned real property. | The county recorder or assessor | Rev. & Tax. Code §480(b) ↗ |
| A settlor dies who received Medi-Cal, or who was the surviving spouse of a person who did | Not later than 90 days after the date of death. The Department then has four months after the notice to file a claim (§19202(b)). | A trustee who knows or has reason to believe the settlor received that care gives the Director of Health Care Services notice of the death, with a copy of the death certificate, at the Director's Sacramento office, in the manner §215 provides. | The Director of Health Care Services | Prob. Code §19202, §215 ↗ |
| The decedent dies | One year after the date of death, in place of the period that would otherwise apply. | The period within which an action on a liability of the decedent may be brought when the claim survives the death — a period the trust's file records, not a step the trustee takes. | — | Code Civ. Proc. §366.2 ↗ |
| You choose the optional trust-side creditor procedure and publish the notice | A creditor files before the later of four months after the first publication or 60 days after actual notice is mailed or delivered; neither extends the one-year period of Code Civ. Proc. §366.2. | The trust-side procedure (§§19000–19403) is optional and separate from probate: publication of the notice to creditors for at least 15 days (§19040), then the claim period §19100 sets. | The settlor's creditors | Prob. Code §19040, §19100 ↗ |
| You choose to give notice of a proposed action | The notice names an objection period of at least 45 days from its delivery or receipt. | An optional notice of a proposed action, with the contents the section lists; a beneficiary may object within the stated period (§§16500–16504). | The beneficiaries the procedure names | Prob. Code §16502 ↗ |
| An authorized fiduciary intends to exercise a decanting power | Notice not later than 60 days before the exercise; the notice period ends 59 days after the day notice is given. | Give notice of the intended exercise to the persons the section lists — among them each settlor living, each qualified beneficiary of the first trust and each other fiduciary — under the Uniform Trust Decanting Act (§§19501–19530). | The persons the section lists | Prob. Code §19507 ↗ |
| The trust's principal is worth $100,000 or less | No day-count. | Where the fair market value of the principal does not exceed $100,000, the trustee has the power to terminate the trust; above that, a court may terminate or modify an uneconomic trust on a trustee's or beneficiary's petition (subdivision (a)). | — | Prob. Code §15408(b) ↗ |
| You propose to resign | As the instrument provides, with the consents the section names, or with the court's approval; no day-count. | Resign by one of the section's methods; liability for acts before the resignation continues (§15641). | — | Prob. Code §15640 ↗ |
| A beneficiary receives an account or written report that adequately discloses a claim | Three years after receipt of the account or report. | The period within which a beneficiary may commence a proceeding on a claim the account or report adequately disclosed; the section states the period that applies otherwise. | — | Prob. Code §16460 ↗ |
| The custodian of a will learns of the testator's death (the related estate) | Within 30 days after having knowledge of the death, unless a petition for probate was filed earlier. | The custodian delivers the will to the clerk of the superior court of the county where the estate may be administered, and a copy to the named executor (§1215). | The superior court clerk; the named executor | Prob. Code §8200 ↗Succession liée |
| Letters are first issued to a general personal representative | Within four months after letters, or further time the court allows. | The personal representative files the estate's inventory and appraisal — the estate's record, kept beside the trust's. | — | Prob. Code §8800 ↗Succession liée |
| Letters are first issued, or the notice of administration is mailed or delivered to a creditor | A creditor files before the later of four months after letters or 60 days after the notice. | When a probate estate is administered, the personal representative gives notice of administration to known creditors and claims are filed in the estate; the trust's file records the estate's events and concludes nothing about them. | Creditors | Prob. Code §9050, §9100 ↗Succession liée |
| The trust becomes irrevocable | Before the trust receives income or files under its own number. | Obtain the trust's employer identification number; a revocable trust used the settlor's Social Security number, and that stops at death. | — | IRS Form SS-4 ↗Fédéral |
| The decedent dies | Nine months after death; a six-month extension is available. | File the federal estate tax return when the gross estate exceeds the filing threshold, or to elect portability for a surviving spouse. California imposes no estate or inheritance tax for current deaths. | — | IRS Form 706 ↗Fédéral |
| The trust's tax year ends | The 15th day of the fourth month after year-end (April 15 for a calendar-year trust). | File the trust's income tax return and issue a Schedule K-1 to each beneficiary who received distributable income. | — | IRS Form 1041 ↗Fédéral |
What the account must show (§16063)
Section 16063(a) lists six contents. The first four are the numbers; the last two are statements, and they matter as much as the numbers.
- A statement of receipts and disbursements of principal and income during the last complete fiscal year of the trust or since the last account.
- A statement of the assets and liabilities of the trust as of the end of the last complete fiscal year or the end of the period the account covers.
- The trustee's compensation for the last complete fiscal year or since the last account.
- The agents hired by the trustee, their relationship to the trustee, if any, and their compensation, for the same period.
- A statement that the recipient may petition the court under §17200 to obtain a court review of the account and of the acts of the trustee.
- A statement that claims against the trustee for breach of trust may not be made after three years from the date the beneficiary receives an account or report disclosing the facts giving rise to the claim.
Waivers, and their limits
An instrument may waive the account, and a beneficiary may waive it in writing — a waiver the beneficiary can withdraw in writing at any time for transactions after the withdrawal (§16064(a)–(b)). Neither waiver is absolute: the court may still compel an account on a showing that it is reasonably likely a material breach of the trust has occurred, and a waiver in the instrument is void as to a sole trustee who falls within the categories §16062(e) describes.
The beneficiaries' rights to the terms of the trust and to requested information cannot be waived by the settlor at all; such a waiver is void as against public policy (§16068).
Principal and income: the two columns
Where the trust has current and remainder beneficiaries, the account separates principal from income, because the two belong to different people. California allocates receipts and disbursements between them under the Uniform Fiduciary Income and Principal Act (§16320 and following, from January 1, 2024), whose section numbers reuse some of the older act's — a detail worth knowing when an older account or treatise cites them.
The duty of impartiality (§16003) is what the two columns protect: an allocation that favors the current beneficiaries over the remainder, or the reverse, shows up in the account before it shows up in a dispute.
The court's part
Most California accounts are nonjudicial: the trustee delivers them to the beneficiaries, and no court sees them. A beneficiary who receives one may petition the court to review it and the trustee's acts (§§16063(a)(5), 17200), and a trustee may petition to settle accounts. The superior court has exclusive jurisdiction of proceedings concerning a trust's internal affairs (§17000), in the county §17005 provides.
An account filed for a court's approval is presented in the manner of Probate Code §1060 and following (§16063(b)), with the Title 7 rules of court — a heavier format than the nonjudicial account, and one many trustees prepare with a licensed California attorney of their choosing.
The records that make it possible
An account is only as good as the ledger beneath it. The trust's property kept separate and designated as the trust's (§16009), every receipt and disbursement recorded when it happens, each asset's value at the start of the period, and each agent's invoice kept with the reason it was incurred — kept that way, the account is a report; reconstructed later, it is a project.
Interim reports and the three-year clock
California's limitation runs from what a beneficiary receives. A claim for breach of trust is barred three years after the beneficiary receives an interim or final account, or other written report, that adequately discloses it — one that gives the beneficiary enough to know of the claim or reasonably to inquire. Where nothing adequately disclosed it, or the beneficiary received no account or report, the three years run from when the beneficiary discovered, or reasonably should have discovered, the subject of the claim (§16460(a)).
A written report need not be a full §16063 account to start the clock (§16460(c)), and the section says who must receive it for a minor or for an adult not reasonably capable of understanding it (§16460(b)). That is why the record of what was sent, to whom and when is part of the trustee's own protection.
An instrument's objection procedure
Some instruments release the trustee if a beneficiary does not object to an account item within a stated period. California gives that provision effect only on conditions: the account sets out the item, the period is at least 180 days, and the account carries the written notice §16461(c) prescribes in 12-point boldface type, headed "NOTICE TO BENEFICIARIES". A shorter period in the instrument is ineffective, though the trustee may elect to use 180 days and the notice instead (§16461(d)).
A provision of that kind never relieves a trustee of liability for a breach committed intentionally, with gross negligence, in bad faith or with reckless indifference, or for any profit from a breach (§16461(b)). Whether to use the procedure is a decision many trustees make with a licensed California attorney of their choosing.
The final account, receipts and releases
At termination the trustee accounts once more (§16062(a)) and disposes of the property as §15410 directs. A distribution the instrument requires may not be conditioned on the beneficiary's release of the trustee (§16004.5); a release or receipt a beneficiary gives voluntarily is a document whose effect depends on what was disclosed, and preparing one is attorney work, not a form download.
The mistakes accounts expose
Accounts are where an administration's errors become visible, which is why careful trustees read their own before sending them.
- Trust money mixed with the trustee's own, or paid through a personal account (§16009).
- Compensation taken without the instrument's authority or beyond what is reasonable (§§15680–15681), or not shown at all (§16063(a)(3)).
- Agents paid without being listed with their relationship to the trustee (§16063(a)(4)).
- Receipts allocated to income or principal against the act (§16320 and following), favoring one class of beneficiary (§16003).
- An account sent without the §17200 review statement or the three-year statement (§16063(a)(5)–(6)).
- A requested account left unanswered past 60 days (§17200(b)(7)(C)).
When a licensed California attorney is the right next call
TrusteeClear organizes the ledger and the record of what was sent; it does not give legal advice and it does not decide any of these questions for you. Many trustees bring the record to a licensed California attorney of their choosing for a court-filed account, an instrument's objection procedure, a waiver's validity, a beneficiary's petition, or a final distribution with releases.
Étape par étape
- 1
Fix the period
The last complete fiscal year of the trust, or the period since the last account; a first account starts where the trusteeship or the trust's irrevocability began.
- 2
Start from the opening assets
The assets and liabilities at the start of the period, at the values the trustee carries them at.
- 3
Schedule every receipt and disbursement
Dated and described, principal and income shown separately (§16063(a)(1)), allocated under the Uniform Fiduciary Income and Principal Act (§16320 and following).
- 4
State the closing assets and liabilities
As of the end of the period the account covers (§16063(a)(2)).
- 5
Show the trustee's compensation
For the period, as the instrument or §§15680–15681 allow (§16063(a)(3)).
- 6
List the agents
Each agent hired, the agent's relationship to the trustee if any, and the agent's compensation (§16063(a)(4)).
- 7
Add the two statements
That the recipient may petition the court under §17200 to review the account and the trustee's acts, and that claims for breach of trust may not be made after three years from receipt of an account or report disclosing them (§16063(a)(5)–(6)).
- 8
Deliver and record
To each beneficiary to whom income or principal is currently distributable (§16062(a)), with the date and manner recorded — the date of receipt starts the three-year period (§16460).
Questions fréquentes
How often must a California trustee account?
At least annually, at the termination of the trust, and on a change of trustee, to each beneficiary to whom income or principal is required or authorized to be currently distributed (Prob. Code §16062(a)). A requested account unanswered for 60 days, with none in the six months before, may be compelled by petition (§17200(b)(7)(C)).
What must a California trust account include?
Receipts and disbursements of principal and income; assets and liabilities; the trustee's compensation; the agents hired, their relationship to the trustee and their compensation; a statement that the recipient may petition the court to review the account; and a statement of the three-year limit on claims for breach of trust (Prob. Code §16063(a)).
Can a California trust waive the duty to account?
Partly. The instrument may waive it, and a beneficiary may waive it in writing, but a court may still compel an account on a showing that a material breach is reasonably likely, and some waivers are void as §16062(e) provides (Prob. Code §16064). A settlor's waiver of the rights to the terms and to requested information is void (§16068).
Is there a limitation period for claims against a California trustee?
Yes: a claim is barred three years after the beneficiary receives an account or written report that adequately discloses it, or, where nothing disclosed it, three years after the beneficiary discovered or reasonably should have discovered it (Prob. Code §16460). An instrument's objection procedure works only with a period of at least 180 days and the boldface notice §16461 prescribes.
Does a revocable trust have to give accounts?
Not to the beneficiaries while it may be revoked; the trustee's duties are owed to the person holding the power to revoke (Prob. Code §§15800(a), 16069(a)). When no holder of the power is competent, the account is owed to the beneficiaries §15800(b) names (§16069(b)).
Is a bank statement enough for a California trust account?
No. A bank statement shows one account's transactions; a §16063 account shows principal and income separately, the trust's assets and liabilities, the trustee's compensation, the agents and the two required statements. A less formal written report can still start the three-year limitation if it adequately discloses a claim (Prob. Code §16460(c)).
Les dispositions applicables
Duty to account
Prob. Code §16062 ↗Explication claire et simple ; le texte intégral de la loi n'est pas encore attesté dans notre bibliothèque. Consultez la loi officielle via le lien ci-dessus.
Contents of an account
Prob. Code §16063 ↗Explication claire et simple ; le texte intégral de la loi n'est pas encore attesté dans notre bibliothèque. Consultez la loi officielle via le lien ci-dessus.
Exceptions to the duty to account
Prob. Code §16064 ↗Explication claire et simple ; le texte intégral de la loi n'est pas encore attesté dans notre bibliothèque. Consultez la loi officielle via le lien ci-dessus.
Limitation on claims for breach of trust
Prob. Code §16460 ↗Explication claire et simple ; le texte intégral de la loi n'est pas encore attesté dans notre bibliothèque. Consultez la loi officielle via le lien ci-dessus.
Bonnes pratiques
- Ouvrez un compte réservé à la fiducie; ne mélangez jamais les fonds de la fiducie avec les vôtres.
- Conservez chaque reçu et inscrivez chaque décaissement au moment où il survient.
- Suivez les actifs à leur valeur à la date du décès (ou du financement de la fiducie) et à leur valeur actuelle.
- Documentez la raison de chaque distribution et conservez les communications avec les bénéficiaires.
Information générale sur le droit de la Californie, pas un avis juridique.