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Ending a trust: termination and the final steps

Most trusts end the way their terms say — after a death, at an age, when a purpose is done. Some end by other routes. This guide explains California's routes and the trustee's last steps. It is general information, not legal advice.

הטקסט המלא של מדריך זה באנגלית; התקציר שלמעלה בשפתכם. תקצירי החוקים והנוסח האנגלי נשארים המקור המחייב.

Closing · 6 דק' קריאה

The routes to termination

Beyond the instrument's own terms, the Trust Law provides several. If all beneficiaries of an irrevocable trust consent, they may petition the court to modify or terminate it, unless continuing it is necessary to carry out a material purpose and the court weighs the reason as §15403 describes. On a trustee's or beneficiary's petition, the court may modify or terminate a trust when circumstances the settlor did not know of or anticipate would defeat or substantially impair its purposes (§15409).

Where the principal has become too small for the cost of administration, the court may terminate or modify the trust (§15408(a)) — and where the principal's fair market value does not exceed $100,000, the trustee has the power to terminate it (§15408(b)), distributing as §15410(e) describes.

The reserve and the distribution

At termination the property is disposed of as §15410 directs — for most trusts, as the instrument provides. Before distributing, the trustee may keep a reserve for reasonably anticipated expenses, including taxes, debts, trustee and accounting fees and the costs of administration, and may withhold a portion reasonably in dispute (§16004.5(b)).

The final account

§16062 has the trustee account at the termination of the trust, with the contents §16063 lists. The receipt of that account by each beneficiary starts the three-year period for claims it adequately discloses (§16460).

Releases and the record

A distribution the instrument requires may not be conditioned on the beneficiary's release of the trustee (§16004.5(a)), though the trustee may seek a voluntary release (§16004.5(b)(2)). Receipts and releases are documents whose effect depends on what was disclosed; preparing them is the kind of task many trustees bring to a licensed California attorney of their choosing. The complete record — notifications, accounts, receipts — is the trustee's protection long after the last distribution.

החוקים, מילה במילה

  • Modification or termination by all beneficiaries' consent

    Prob. Code §15403 ↗

    הסבר ברור ופשוט; נוסח החוק המילולי טרם אושר בספרייה שלנו. ראו את החוק הרשמי בקישור למעלה.

  • Trust uneconomic to administer

    Prob. Code §15408 ↗

    הסבר ברור ופשוט; נוסח החוק המילולי טרם אושר בספרייה שלנו. ראו את החוק הרשמי בקישור למעלה.

  • Modification or termination for circumstances the settlor did not anticipate

    Prob. Code §15409 ↗

    הסבר ברור ופשוט; נוסח החוק המילולי טרם אושר בספרייה שלנו. ראו את החוק הרשמי בקישור למעלה.

  • Disposition of trust property on termination

    Prob. Code §15410 ↗

    הסבר ברור ופשוט; נוסח החוק המילולי טרם אושר בספרייה שלנו. ראו את החוק הרשמי בקישור למעלה.

שאלות נפוצות

Can a California trustee end a small trust?

Where the principal's fair market value does not exceed $100,000, the trustee has the power to terminate the trust (§15408(b)); above that, the court may terminate or modify an uneconomic trust on petition (§15408(a)).

Can the beneficiaries agree to end a trust?

All beneficiaries of an irrevocable trust may, by consent, petition the court to modify or terminate it, unless continuing it is necessary to a material purpose as §15403 describes.

Does the trustee have to give a final account?

Yes: §16062 provides for an account at the termination of the trust, with the contents §16063 lists.

מרכז הלמידה הוא מידע כללי על חוק קליפורניה — לא ייעוץ משפטי ולא תחליף לייעוץ מעורך דין מורשה בקליפורניה על העובדות שלכם. TrusteeClear היא תוכנה, לא משרד עורכי דין.