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Trustee compensation: what California law actually provides

Trustees are entitled to be paid, and family trustees often wonder whether they should be. This guide explains what California's Trust Law provides about a trustee's compensation and expenses. It is general information, not legal advice.

Полный текст этого руководства на английском языке; краткое изложение выше — на вашем языке. Изложения законов и английский текст остаются источником записи.

Compensation · 6 мин чтения

The instrument first

If the trust instrument provides for the trustee's compensation, §15680 entitles the trustee to it. The court may fix greater or lesser compensation where the duties are substantially different from those the settlor contemplated, where the specified compensation would be inequitable or unreasonably low or high, or in extraordinary circumstances — and any change applies prospectively.

Where the instrument is silent, §15681 entitles the trustee to reasonable compensation under the circumstances.

No schedule for a private trustee

California sets no percentage for a private trustee. The statutory percentages people hear about — 4% of the first $100,000 and so on — belong to a probate estate's personal representative (§10800) and that representative's attorney (§10810), not to a trustee. What is reasonable for a trustee turns on the circumstances, and the court may fix, allow or review the reasonableness of a trustee's compensation on petition (§17200(b)(9)).

Expenses, and a trustee who is an attorney

Separate from compensation, §15684 entitles the trustee to repayment from the trust for expenditures properly incurred in administering it, and for other expenditures to the extent they benefited the trust.

A trustee who is also an attorney faces a specific rule: §15687 limits the trustee to either the trustee's compensation or compensation for legal services, not both, unless — after full disclosure — dual compensation is approved by court order or by the advance written notice the section describes, without objection.

Paying yourself, carefully

Taking compensation is a self-interested act by a fiduciary. The duty of loyalty (§16002) and the limits on self-dealing (§16004) are in the room, and the account shows the trustee's compensation for the period (§16063(a)(3)). Many family trustees document the basis, the rate and the work before the money moves — and bring the question to a licensed California attorney of their choosing where the instrument is silent.

Законы, дословно

  • Compensation as the instrument provides

    Prob. Code §15680 ↗

    Понятное простое объяснение; дословный текст статута ещё не заверен в нашей библиотеке. Смотрите официальный статут по ссылке выше.

  • Reasonable compensation where the instrument is silent

    Prob. Code §15681 ↗

    Понятное простое объяснение; дословный текст статута ещё не заверен в нашей библиотеке. Смотрите официальный статут по ссылке выше.

  • Repayment of the trustee's expenditures

    Prob. Code §15684 ↗

    Понятное простое объяснение; дословный текст статута ещё не заверен в нашей библиотеке. Смотрите официальный статут по ссылке выше.

  • Compensation of a trustee who is an attorney

    Prob. Code §15687 ↗

    Понятное простое объяснение; дословный текст статута ещё не заверен в нашей библиотеке. Смотрите официальный статут по ссылке выше.

Частые вопросы

Is a California trustee entitled to be paid?

Yes: to the compensation the instrument provides (§15680) or, where it is silent, to reasonable compensation under the circumstances (§15681). Expenditures properly incurred are repaid from the trust (§15684).

Do the probate percentages apply to trustees in California?

No. §§10800 and 10810 set the statutory compensation of a probate estate's personal representative and that representative's attorney. A private trustee's compensation is the instrument's, or reasonable compensation (§15681).

Does the trustee's compensation have to be disclosed?

Yes, in the account: §16063(a)(3) lists the trustee's compensation for the period among the account's contents.

Учебный центр — это общая информация о законах Калифорнии, а не юридическая консультация и не замена совету лицензированного юриста Калифорнии по вашим конкретным фактам. TrusteeClear — это программа, а не юридическая фирма.