The Successor Trustee’s First 30 Days: What You Need to Do Right Now

Someone you love has died, and somewhere in their trust your name appears as successor trustee. You are grieving, you are busy with arrangements, and you have just inherited a legal role you never trained for. Most successor trustees are spouses, adult children, or siblings — ordinary people who didn’t ask for the job.

Take a breath. Trust administration is a process, and the first 30 days have a defined set of priorities. Here is what to do — and just as importantly, what not to do.

Week One: Documents and Death Certificates

• Order certified copies of the death certificate — more than you think you need. Ten is a reasonable starting point. Every bank, brokerage, title company, and insurer will want one.
• Locate the original trust document — including all amendments and restatements. Check the home office, the safe, and ask the drafting attorney. You need the complete, current version; an outdated copy can send the entire administration in the wrong direction.
• Identify the financial institutions — gather statements, mail, and tax returns to build a picture of where the accounts, properties, and policies are.

The § 16061.7 Notice — Your Most Important Early Deadline

California Probate Code § 16061.7 requires the trustee to send a formal written notice to all heirs and beneficiaries within 60 days of the settlor’s death. The notice must contain specific statutory language, including the recipient’s right to request a copy of the trust.

This notice matters for a second reason: it starts a 120-day clock during which the trust can be contested. Once the clock runs, challenges are generally barred. Serving the notice correctly — to the right people, with the right language, with documented proof of service — is one of the most consequential things you will do as trustee. It is also one of the easiest to get wrong without guidance.

Notify the Financial Institutions — Carefully

Notify the banks and financial institutions of the settlor’s death and establish your authority as successor trustee — typically with a certification of trust and a death certificate. Open a dedicated trust bank account if one doesn’t exist.

One rule above all: never commingle funds. Trust money stays in trust accounts. Running trust transactions through your personal account — even temporarily, even with perfect intentions — is the kind of mistake that beneficiaries’ attorneys build cases around.

What NOT to Do in the First 30 Days

• Don’t distribute anything. Not yet — not even to obviously entitled beneficiaries, and not even “small advances.” Creditor claims, taxes, and expenses come first; a trustee who distributes early can be personally liable for any shortfall.
• Don’t pay debts without guidance. Not every claim is valid, and the order of payment matters. Paying the wrong debt first can become your problem.
• Don’t close accounts prematurely. Accounts may need to stay open for final deposits, refunds, and tax documents.
• Don’t make promises to beneficiaries about timing or amounts. Communicate openly about process, but commit to nothing until the picture is complete.

When to Call an Attorney

Immediately — and ideally before you take any formal action. The 60-day notice deadline and the 120-day contest period are already running whether or not you’ve spoken to anyone. Early guidance is when counsel does the most good and costs the least: the notices go out correctly, the records start clean, and the mistakes that generate litigation never happen.

Reasonable attorney’s fees for trust administration are ordinarily paid from the trust, not from your pocket. Having litigated trust disputes from both sides, I can tell you most trustee liability traces back to the first 60 days — the period when well-meaning people acted before they understood the rules.