When someone dies with a living trust, the successor trustee may assume the next step is to collect the assets, pay expenses, and eventually distribute the trust property.
But California law requires something important before the administration gets very far: formal notice to the trust beneficiaries and the deceased person’s heirs.
That requirement comes from California Probate Code §16061.7. The notice tells recipients that the trust has become irrevocable, identifies the trustee, explains how to request a copy of the trust, and warns that there is a limited period in which to contest it.
For a successor trustee, this is not merely a courtesy letter. It is one of the first statutory requirements of a California trust administration.
Probate Code §16061.7 requires a trustee to send a formal notification when certain events occur involving an irrevocable trust.
The most common event is the death of a person who created a revocable living trust. At death, all or part of the trust ordinarily becomes irrevocable, and the successor trustee takes over its administration.
Notice is also required in a few less common situations: a change of trustee of an already irrevocable trust; a settlor’s retained power of appointment becoming effective or lapsing at death with respect to an irrevocable trust, other than a charitable remainder trust; or a revocable trust becoming irrevocable within one year after a settlor’s death because of a death-related contingency.
For most families, the practical situation is simpler: a parent or spouse has died, the living trust has become irrevocable, and the successor trustee must provide the required notice.
The notice serves two purposes. First, it gives beneficiaries and heirs basic information about the trust administration: that the trust has become irrevocable, who is serving as trustee, and how to request a copy of the trust terms.
Second, properly serving the notice starts a limited period in which a recipient may bring a trust contest. Without proper notice, the trustee may complete much of the administration without certainty that this period has begun to run. The notice protects the recipients’ right to information while helping the trustee move the administration toward finality.
When a revocable trust becomes irrevocable because of a settlor’s death, the trustee generally must notify each beneficiary of the irrevocable trust or irrevocable portion and each heir of the deceased settlor.
The requirement to notify heirs often causes confusion. An heir is someone who would inherit under California intestate-succession law if the deceased person had no valid estate plan. That person may be entitled to notice even if they are not named as a beneficiary and will receive nothing from the trust.
For example, suppose a parent’s trust leaves everything equally to three children but intentionally omits a fourth. The omitted child may still be an heir and therefore may still be entitled to the §16061.7 notification. Sending the notice does not mean that child inherits anything.
Identifying the heirs can be more complicated than it first appears, particularly when there are deceased children, adopted children, children born outside marriage, or uncertain family relationships.
Probate Code §16061.7 specifies the required contents:
The notice is not meant to explain the entire administration. It does not need family history, a justification of the settlor’s decisions, or a summary of the distribution provisions. Its purpose is to satisfy the statute accurately and completely.
The trustee generally must mail the notification within 60 days after the event requiring notice. In a typical post-death administration, that means 60 days after the settlor’s death causes the trust, or part of it, to become irrevocable.
If there is no acting trustee when the triggering event occurs, the 60-day period begins when the new trustee begins serving. If the trustee later discovers someone who was entitled to notice but was not previously known, the trustee generally has 60 days after becoming aware of that person to serve the notice.
For known recipients, the deadline is not postponed because the trustee is grieving, locating documents, or waiting for death certificates. A late notice should ordinarily still be sent. The delay does not make the notice meaningless, but it may prolong the period of uncertainty.
A person who receives the statutory notification generally cannot bring a trust contest more than 120 days after the notification is served, or 60 days after a copy of the trust terms is delivered to that person during the 120-day period, whichever is later. This limitation appears in Probate Code §16061.8, but the §16061.7 notice itself must contain the warning about it.
For example, if a beneficiary never requests a copy of the trust, the ordinary deadline is 120 days after service. If the beneficiary requests a copy and receives it near the end of that period, the beneficiary may instead have 60 days from delivery of the trust terms. The date and method of service, and the date any copy was requested and delivered, can matter if a dispute later develops.
Not necessarily. The notice must inform the recipient that they are entitled, upon reasonable request, to receive a true and complete copy of the trust terms. The trustee is not required by §16061.7 to enclose the complete trust with every notice.
Probate Code §16061.5 separately addresses the trustee’s obligation to provide the trust terms to a beneficiary or heir who requests them.
Ordinarily, no. The §16061.7 notification is mailed directly to the required beneficiaries and heirs. It is not normally filed with a court as part of a routine living-trust administration, which generally proceeds outside probate court unless a petition, dispute, or other issue requires court involvement.
The trustee should still keep clear records of who was notified, how notice was served, and when it was served. Those records can matter if someone later claims they did not receive proper notice.
A successor trustee is not legally required to have an attorney prepare or send the notice. The challenge, however, is not simply writing the letter. It is identifying every person entitled to receive it, including the required statutory language, meeting the deadline, and preserving evidence of service.
In an attorney-assisted trust administration, the trustee typically helps compile a complete list of beneficiaries and heirs, while the attorney reviews the trust, confirms the recipients, and prepares the statutory notice.
A defective or omitted notice does not usually produce an immediate penalty. The problem tends to appear later: a person who did not receive a compliant notice may argue that the contest period never began to run as to them, sometimes after the trustee has already sold property or made distributions and reversing course would be difficult.
This does not mean every technical mistake invalidates the administration or creates personal liability; the consequences depend on the facts. But proper notice remains one of the clearest ways to reduce uncertainty early in the administration.
The notice is one part of a trustee’s early work, alongside locating the trust, securing assets, and identifying beneficiaries and creditors. For a fuller roadmap of that period, see The First 30 Days as a California Successor Trustee. If you are still getting oriented to the role itself, start with What Is a Successor Trustee in California?, and for a broader view of the process after a death, see What Happens After Someone Dies With a Living Trust in California?.
California Probate Code §16061.7 requires formal notice after the living trust becomes irrevocable when the grantor dies.
The notice tells beneficiaries and heirs that the trust is being administered, identifies the trustee, explains the right to request the trust terms, and warns that any trust contest must be brought within a limited period.
For the successor trustee, the key is not merely sending a letter. It is sending the correct notice to every required person, within the statutory period, with reliable evidence that it was served.
Preparing and serving a Probate Code §16061.7 notification is one of the earliest legal responsibilities of a successor trustee. Although the notice may appear straightforward, identifying every required recipient, meeting the deadline, and complying with the statute can have significant consequences.
We help successor trustees throughout California, meeting with clients in person at our El Dorado Hills and Roseville offices and virtually throughout the state.
Contact us to schedule a consultation about your responsibilities as a California successor trustee.