Trust administration: the quiet version of probate

When a home is in a living trust, there's no court — but there is still a legal process with real deadlines.

Within 60 days of the death, the successor trustee must send a statutory notice (Probate Code §16061.7) to heirs and beneficiaries; it starts a 120-day clock to contest the trust.

The trustee then inventories assets, gets date-of-death values (an appraisal of the home — also what establishes the stepped-up cost basis), pays debts and expenses, files tax returns, and distributes according to the trust. A clean administration with one property commonly takes 4–12 months.

Trustees owe beneficiaries duties of loyalty, impartiality, and reasonable speed. Beneficiaries are entitled to information and accountings. Most family friction in trusts comes not from theft but from silence — a trustee who communicates early and often prevents most of it.

General education, not advice — verify anything you’ll rely on with a CPA or estate attorney.