San Jose Trust Administration Attorney
Named a Trustee? One Mistake Can
Make You Personally Liable.
Settling a loved one’s trust comes with strict legal duties and deadlines. We guide you through every notice, accounting, and distribution correctly.
Does This Sound Familiar?
If any of these keep you up at night, you’re not alone, and every one has a clear solution.
Personal liability
Trustees can be held personally responsible for honest, well-meaning mistakes.
Hard deadlines
Miss a required legal notice or filing and beneficiaries can take you to court.
It gets complex fast
Asset transfers, taxes, and accountings are far more involved than they look.
How We Guide Trustees
- Trustee duties, required notices & deadlines
- Trust accounting & asset retitling
- Correct, documented distributions to beneficiaries
- Beneficiary communication & dispute prevention
What Trust Administration Involves
Trust administration is the process a successor trustee follows after the person who created a California trust dies. It happens outside probate court, which is the whole point of having a trust. It is not automatic, and it is not informal: the Probate Code imposes real deadlines, real reporting duties, and real personal exposure if a step is missed.
Below are the duties that catch new trustees out most often in San Jose and across Santa Clara County, with the code section that creates each one.
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The 60-day notice, and the 120-day clock it starts
Probate Code section 16061.7 requires a trustee to serve notification on beneficiaries and on the settlor’s heirs within 60 days of the trust becoming irrevocable. The notice must carry a specific warning, because under section 16061.8 it starts a 120-day window in which someone can contest the trust. Serving it correctly both discharges a duty and closes the contest window.
Keeping beneficiaries reasonably informed
Sections 16060 and 16061 require a trustee to keep beneficiaries reasonably informed about the trust and its administration, and to provide requested information about it. A large share of the disputes we are asked about begin as nothing more than unanswered questions, and settle once the information actually arrives.
Accounting to beneficiaries
Section 16062 requires an account at least annually, on 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. Trusts created before July 1, 1987 are generally exempt, and section 16064 sets out other exceptions. An account is not a bank statement: it is a structured report of receipts, disbursements, and property on hand, and it is the document that protects the trustee as much as the beneficiary.
Keeping trust property separate
Section 16009 requires a trustee to keep trust property separate from their own and clearly designated as trust property. Mixing funds, even briefly and even with good intentions, is one of the easiest ways for an otherwise careful trustee to create a problem that is difficult to unwind later.
Where a trustee becomes personally liable
Section 16440 sets how liability for a breach is measured, which can include any loss to the trust, any profit the trustee made, and profit the trust would have made but for the breach. Section 16440(b) also allows a court to excuse a trustee who acted reasonably and in good faith. Records decide these cases.
Removal, if it comes to that
Section 15642 lets a settlor, cotrustee, or beneficiary petition to remove a trustee, and lists the grounds: breach of trust, insolvency or unfitness, hostility among cotrustees that impairs administration, failure or refusal to act, excessive compensation, and substantial inability to manage the trust’s finances.
Where disputes are heard
Trust matters for this area are heard in the probate division of the Santa Clara County Superior Court. Most administrations never see the inside of it. The ones that do usually got there through a missed notice, a missing account, or a silence that lasted too long.
Frequently Asked Questions
General information about California law, not legal advice for your situation.
What does a successor trustee have to do first in California?
Locate and read the trust, identify the beneficiaries and the settlor’s heirs, secure the assets, and get the section 16061.7 notification served within 60 days of the trust becoming irrevocable. Obtaining certified death certificates and a tax identification number for the trust generally happens in the same first stretch.
What is the 60-day trustee notice in California?
Probate Code section 16061.7 requires the trustee to serve a written notification on each beneficiary and on the settlor’s heirs within 60 days of the trust becoming irrevocable. The notice must include prescribed contents, including a warning about the deadline to contest the trust. It is the first hard deadline a new trustee faces.
How long do beneficiaries have to contest a trust?
Under Probate Code section 16061.8, a person served with the trustee’s notification cannot bring an action contesting the trust more than 120 days from the date that notice is served. If the trust terms are delivered during that window, the deadline is the later of the 120 days or 60 days from that delivery.
Does a trustee have to give beneficiaries an accounting?
Yes, in most cases. Probate Code section 16062 requires an account at least annually, on termination of the trust, and on a change of trustee to each beneficiary entitled or eligible to receive current distributions of income or principal, with exceptions for trusts created before July 1, 1987 and those set out in section 16064. Beneficiaries who cannot get one can petition the court to compel it.
Can a trustee be held personally responsible?
Yes. Probate Code section 16440 measures liability for a breach of trust, which can include loss to the trust, profit the trustee made, and profit the trust would have made but for the breach. The same section lets a court excuse a trustee who acted reasonably and in good faith, which is why documentation matters so much.
How long does trust administration take in California?
It varies with the assets and the family. A straightforward administration with liquid assets and cooperative beneficiaries can move in months. Real property, a business interest, a tax filing, or a dispute extends it. The trustee’s duties continue until the trust is fully distributed and the final account is settled.
Can a trustee pay themselves?
A trustee is generally entitled to reasonable compensation unless the trust says otherwise, and many trusts address it directly. What causes problems is taking compensation without authority, without records, or without telling beneficiaries. Read the trust first, then document what is taken and why.
Do I need an attorney to administer a trust?
The law does not require one. Whether you want one usually depends on what the trust holds and who is watching. The duties above are personal to the trustee, and the consequences of missing one fall on the trustee rather than on the estate.
Do You Need Trust Administration Help?
Answer 3 quick questions. No email required to see your result.
1. Were you named successor trustee of a trust?
2. Has the person who created the trust recently passed?
3. Are multiple beneficiaries involved?
You Need Trust-Administration Guidance
As a trustee you carry real legal duties. We’ll make sure every notice, accounting, and distribution is handled correctly, protecting you from liability.
Trusted by San Jose Families
“He got my trust and will done. He was very patient in explaining, very knowledgeable. I highly recommend him.”
“Fantastic, knowledgeable and very professional in establishing our trust. They explained everything thoroughly.”
“They spent the time explaining every component and answering our questions, giving us peace of mind for the future care of our child.”
“Clients for over 30 years. As always, every service was performed professionally and accurately.”
Client testimonials describe individual experiences. Every matter is different, and these statements are not a guarantee, warranty, or prediction of the outcome of your case.
Why Bay Area Families Choose Us
Specialist-Led
H. Rey Gervacio is a Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law, The State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization.
No Surprises
Clear, upfront pricing. You know exactly what to expect before we begin.
San Jose Roots
Serving San Jose, Santa Clara County & the greater Bay Area with personal service.
Let’s Talk Before It Becomes Harder to Fix.
Start with a Design Meeting. We’ll listen, explain your options in plain English, and map the right path forward.
Trust Law Legacy Group, APC · 100 Century Center Ct., Ste. 620, San Jose, CA 95112 · (408) 945-3950. Attorney advertising. This page is general information only, is not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every situation is unique. Please consult an attorney about your specific circumstances.
Related trustee and probate guidance
Trustees often need help with trust administration, probate issues, and real estate held in a trust or estate. For next steps, request a design meeting.
Areas we serve: San Jose · Palo Alto · Santa Clara, and families throughout Santa Clara County and the greater Bay Area.
Further reading for trustees in San Jose
Start with the five steps a California trust administration runs through, then how long it realistically takes and what tends to cause delay.
Reviews from trustees we have worked with give a sense of what the process feels like from the trustee’s side.
What this looks like in a real file
Four of our de-identified case studies are trust administrations: an out-of-state trust after a death in California, a title company that would not close escrow without a court order, a mother still on title years after a trustee change, and an early distribution that was legally a gift rather than an inheritance.