Trust Accounting in California
A California trust accounting is the trustee's written report of what the trust holds, what came in, what went out, and what remains. A trustee must generally account at least annually, at termination, and on a change of trustee. A beneficiary who is refused one can petition the court to compel it.
When must a trustee account?
Probate Code section 16062 sets the baseline. A trustee must account at least annually, at the termination of the trust, and on a change of trustee, to each beneficiary to whom income or principal is required or authorized in the trustee’s discretion to be currently distributed. The section carries real exceptions — trustees of living trusts created before 1 July 1987 are exempt, as are trustees of pre-1987 testamentary trusts unless the trust has been removed from court jurisdiction — so the first question in any dispute is whether the duty applies at all. Where a trust instrument purports to waive or limit accounting, that waiver is void if the sole trustee is a disqualified person, or a person described in section 21380 but not section 21382. When a trustee who owes the duty will not perform it, a beneficiary may petition the court under section 17200 concerning the internal affairs of the trust, including to compel the account.
Sources: Probate Code s.16062 - Duty to account to beneficiaries · Probate Code s.17200 - Petitions concerning internal affairs of trust · Verified 2026-08-04.
What an accounting has to show
| Element | What you should be able to see |
|---|---|
| Opening position | What the trust held at the start of the period, at value |
| Receipts | Everything that came in — income, sale proceeds, distributions received |
| Disbursements | Everything that went out, and to whom |
| Trustee compensation | What the trustee paid themselves, separately stated |
| Agents hired | Who was engaged and what they were paid |
| Closing position | What remains, and in what form |
The statutory contents of an account are set by Probate Code section 16063. Verified 4 August 2026.
What silence usually means
A trustee who will not account is rarely just disorganized. In practice the pattern that shows up again and again is the same: no account, then no answers, then a distribution that arrives smaller than expected with no explanation of the gap. Each of those is separately actionable, and together they are the evidence of a pattern.
If a trustee has also stopped communicating, that is its own breach — see what to do when the trustee will not talk to you, and when a court will remove one.
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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.
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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