Notices and trust certifications

The notice starts the clock on any contest. Serving it early closes that window early.

California requires a trustee to serve notice on beneficiaries and heirs after a death, and that notice begins the period within which someone can contest the trust. Trustees skip it constantly, usually out of delicacy, and the effect is to leave the contest period open indefinitely.

A certification of trust is the short document that proves your authority without handing anyone the whole trust. Banks and title companies ask for it, and most of them will accept nothing else.