You have been named successor trustee. Now what?

January 2026

Someone has died and you are holding a document that says you are in charge of their trust. Almost nobody is ready for this, and the order of operations matters more than the speed.

First, secure the property. Locks, mail, insurance, and any vehicle sitting in a driveway. Insurers treat a vacant house differently and want to be told.

Second, find the assets before you move any of them. Statements, deeds, policies, and anything held at a firm nobody in the family remembers opening.

Third, send the notice. California requires a formal notification to beneficiaries and heirs within a set window after death, and the clock on certain challenges only starts when you send it.

Fourth, keep records from day one. Every disbursement, every fee, every reimbursement to yourself. Beneficiaries are entitled to an accounting, and reconstructing one a year later is far harder than keeping it as you go.

We take these on for trustees who would rather not learn this in real time.