Guided settlement of a living trust — statutory notices, title paperwork, and every deadline tracked. Asset search included.

When a person's assets are held in a living (revocable) trust, there is usually no probate. Instead, the successor trustee named in the trust administers it directly. That sounds like the easy path — and it is, compared to full probate — but "no court" is not "no process." The trustee steps into a series of legal duties with real deadlines, has to move every asset out of the trust the right way, and is personally responsible for doing it correctly (Probate Code §§16400, 16440).

Here's everything trust administration actually involves — the part the "avoid probate" pitch skips.

Trust administration is a sequence of legal duties, not a single filing

• Your authority. You have to show that the assets are titled in the trust and that you are the successor trustee entitled to act — the thing every institution will ask you to prove.
• The §16061.7 notice. A written notice to each beneficiary and each heir of the deceased settlor (and the Attorney General for a charitable trust under its supervision), served no later than 60 days after the trust becomes irrevocable. Service starts a 120-day window to contest the trust (§16061.8); failing to serve it can make the trustee liable for the resulting damages (§16061.9).
• A Certification of Trust. Instead of the whole trust document, a trustee may give institutions a Certification of Trust proving your authority (§18100.5). You'll present it again and again.
• An inventory and date-of-death values. A full list of what the trust holds — real property, accounts, securities, business interests — with values that also matter for taxes and the beneficiaries' cost basis.
• Retitling every asset, one institution at a time. There is no single filing. Each property needs a new deed, with a PCOR filed at recording; each bank, brokerage and transfer agent has its own paperwork, and some ask for a medallion signature guarantee.
• Debts, expenses and taxes — and the deadline nobody mentions. Final bills, the decedent's final income-tax return, and any trust tax filings come before distribution. The 120 days above is the window to contest the trust; it is not a creditor deadline. A claim against the person who died must generally be brought within one year of the date of death (Code of Civil Procedure §366.2), and trust property the settlor could have revoked is reachable for those debts to the extent the probate estate can't cover them (Probate Code §19001(a)). Pay beneficiaries too early and the trustee can be personally on the hook.
• Distribution and records. Once obligations are settled — not merely once the contest window has run — assets are distributed per the trust, with documentation kept so the trustee can show it was done right. The trustee must also keep beneficiaries reasonably informed and account to them (§§16060, 16062).

Trustees get into trouble by anchoring on the 120-day contest window

Trust administration isn't one hard task — it's many small ones spread over months, each with its own rules. The §16061.7 notice has a deadline and a contest clock most people don't know exists — and the clock people do hear about, the 120 days, is the one that governs contests, not creditors, so anchoring on it is how trustees distribute too early. Retitling means repeating a different process at every bank, brokerage and county recorder. Debts and taxes have to be handled in the right order. And the trustee carries personal, fiduciary responsibility the whole way — so a well-meaning shortcut (distributing early, skipping the notice, losing track of an account) isn't just a delay, it's exposure.

People become successor trustees once, usually for a parent, with a day job and no map of the moving parts. The trust says what to do; it doesn't track how or when.

A registered LDA prepares the notices and paperwork at your direction

A registered California Legal Document Assistant prepares, at your direction, the §16061.7 notice, serves it on the people the statute lists on time, and prepares the Certification of Trust you present to institutions. Where the trust holds real property, they prepare the Affidavit of Death of Trustee. Throughout, we map every deadline and tell you what has to happen next, in what order — including sequencing debts and taxes before distribution, which is where trustees get personally exposed.

What we don't do, and won't claim to. Retitling is yours to submit — we give you the Certification of Trust and the per-institution checklist, you sign and send. Tax returns — the decedent's final 1040, the trust's 1041 — are prepared by a CPA or enrolled agent; an LDA is not a tax preparer, and we refer that out. A contested trust, or one that needs a court ruling, is referred out to an attorney. And an LDA prepares documents at your direction — we do not choose for you, and we cannot give legal advice.

The routine administration most families face is exactly what we track and paper, for one flat fee, instead of months of guessing which institution needs what next.

How it works

1. Gather the trust and your authority to actCollect the trust instrument and any amendments that name you as successor trustee, along with the list of assets titled in the trust — the authority you'll need to show every bank, brokerage and county recorder.
2. We prepare and serve the §16061.7 noticeCalifornia Probate Code §16061.7 requires the trustee to serve a written notice on each beneficiary, each heir of the deceased settlor, and — for a charitable trust under its supervision — the Attorney General, no later than 60 days after the trust becomes irrevocable. Your Legal Document Assistant prepares it at your direction, mails it, and keeps the proof of service. Service starts the window to contest the trust: 120 days from the date the notice is served, or 60 days after a copy of the trust terms is delivered during that period, whichever is later (§16061.8).
3. We prepare a Certification of TrustInstead of handing over the whole trust, a trustee may give banks and title companies a Certification of Trust — an acknowledged declaration signed by all acting trustees (Probate Code §18100.5). We prepare it so institutions can release and retitle assets.
4. Inventory the trust assetsWe help you list everything the trust holds — real property, accounts, securities, business interests — and gather date-of-death values, which also matter for taxes and basis.
5. Retitle each asset, one institution at a timeAt distribution, each asset is moved as the trust directs: a new deed for each property, with a PCOR filed at recording, and separate paperwork for each bank, brokerage and transfer agent — each with its own forms and requirements. We give you the Certification of Trust institutions ask for, and the checklist of what each one needs; you sign and submit.
6. Address debts, expenses and taxesFinal bills, the decedent's final income tax return, and any trust tax filings all come before distribution, so the trustee isn't personally exposed for paying beneficiaries too early. We track the sequence and tell you what has to happen when. Tax returns themselves are prepared by a CPA or enrolled agent — a Legal Document Assistant is not a tax preparer, so we refer that out rather than doing it.
7. Distribute and documentOnce debts, expenses and taxes are settled — not merely once the contest window has run — assets are distributed per the trust, with records kept so the trustee can show the administration was done correctly.