Can a living trust be contested in California?

Yes. A living trust or an amendment to it can be challenged on grounds including undue influence, lack of capacity, fraud, forgery and improper execution. A contest generally must be brought within 120 days of the trustee's notification under Probate Code section 16061.7.

What can go wrong with a living trust?

Two broad categories. The document itself may be invalid — often an amendment signed late in life. Or the document is fine and the trustee is the problem: no accounting, no information, no distribution, or assets used for themselves.

Who can dispute a living trust?

A person with standing: a beneficiary of the trust or of a prior version of it, or an heir who would inherit if the trust were invalid.

Living Trust Disputes in California

A living trust dispute is a disagreement over a revocable trust after the person who created it dies. The trust can be challenged as invalid, and the trustee can be challenged over how they administer it. Those are different claims, on different clocks, against different people.

A magnifying glass held over one page of a thick bound document open on a dining table, a hand steadying the page under warm lamp light. — Most people arrive knowing something is wrong, without knowing whether the problem is the document or the person holding it.

The two disputes, and why the difference matters

Almost every living trust dispute in California is one of two things. The first is a challenge to the instrument: the trust, or more often a late amendment to it, is said to be invalid for undue influence, lack of capacity, fraud, forgery or improper execution. That challenge is time-critical, because an action contesting the trust generally must be brought within 120 days of service of the trustee’s notification under Probate Code section 16061.7. The second is a challenge to administration, where nobody disputes the document but the trustee will not perform. Section 16060 imposes an affirmative duty to keep beneficiaries reasonably informed of the trust and its administration, and section 17200 allows a beneficiary to petition the court concerning the internal affairs of the trust — to compel an accounting, compel disclosure, instruct the trustee, or seek removal. The two run on different clocks, and mistaking one for the other is how good claims expire.

Sources: Probate Code s.16061.7 - Trustee notification · Probate Code s.16061.8 - 120-day contest period · Probate Code s.16060 - Trustee duty to inform and report · Probate Code s.17200 - Petitions concerning internal affairs of trust · Verified 2026-08-03.

Which one is yours

What you noticed	The dispute	Where to read
The trust changed shortly before death	The document is challenged	Contesting a trust
A carer or new partner ended up with everything	Undue influence	Undue influence
The trustee will not show you the trust	Breach of the duty to inform	Beneficiary rights
No accounting has ever arrived	Failure to account	Trust accounting
Money or property has gone missing	Breach, and possibly surcharge	Trustee surcharge
The trustee is living in the house	Self-dealing	Breach of fiduciary duty

Why living trusts produce more disputes than wills

A living trust avoids probate, which is usually the point of having one. But avoiding probate also means avoiding court supervision: no judge reviews the administration, no filing is public, and nobody checks the trustee unless a beneficiary does. The privacy that makes a trust attractive while you are alive is the same feature that lets a trustee operate unobserved afterwards.

That is why the accounting matters so much, and why the first step in most of these disputes is simply demanding one. See trust litigation for the full picture, or check your contest deadline.

Need help with legal fees?

We litigate select cases on contingency, with no upfront fees.

Costs are separate from the fee, and whether you are responsible for them is set out in the written agreement before you sign anything.

You pay no fee unless there is a recoveryThe firm carries the risk of the case. If nothing is recovered, no fee is owed.

The rate is negotiable, and must say soCalifornia requires the written agreement to state that the fee is not set by law.

Costs are separate, and disclosed up frontThe agreement must state how costs affect the fee before you sign it.

How contingency fees work in California

A contingency fee means the attorney is paid from what is recovered rather than by the hour, so a beneficiary who cannot fund litigation out of pocket can still bring a claim. California regulates these agreements closely. Under Business and Professions Code section 6147, the agreement must be in writing and the attorney must give the client a duplicate copy, signed by both, when the contract is made. It must state the agreed contingency rate; how disbursements and costs incurred in prosecuting or settling the claim will affect that fee; and to what extent the client could be required to pay for related matters. Unless the matter falls under section 6146, the agreement must also state that the fee is not set by law and is negotiable. These are not formalities: failure to comply with any provision of section 6147 makes the agreement voidable at the client’s option, leaving the attorney entitled only to a reasonable fee.

Sources: Business and Professions Code s.6147 - Contingency fee contracts · Verified 2026-08-03.

Not every matter suits a contingency arrangement, and the firm does not take every case on one. Whether yours qualifies depends on the facts, the likely recovery, and the assets actually available to satisfy a judgment. Ask when you call.

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