In California, you generally have 120 days to contest a trust, counted from the day the trustee formally serves you with a document called the Notification by Trustee. That deadline comes from Probate Code 16061.8, and courts enforce it strictly.1California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 16061.8 A single day late almost always means dismissal, no matter how strong your evidence.
The clock does not start on the date the settlor died, and it does not start when you first hear about the trust. It starts on service of a specific notice, and the details of how that notice was sent and what it contained can shift the math.
What Starts the 120 Days
When a revocable living trust becomes irrevocable, usually because the person who created it has died, the trustee is required to send a Notification by Trustee to every beneficiary named in the trust and every legal heir of the deceased settlor.2California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 16061.7 – Trustee’s Duty to Report Information and Account to Beneficiaries
For that notification to be legally valid and actually start the clock, it has to include specific information: the settlor’s identity and the date the trust was signed, the name, address, and phone number of each trustee, the physical location where the trust is primarily administered, and a statement that you can request a complete copy of the trust terms.2California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 16061.7 – Trustee’s Duty to Report Information and Account to Beneficiaries
It also has to include a warning printed in boldface type, in a separate paragraph, telling you that you have 120 days from the date of service to bring a legal challenge, or 60 days from receiving a copy of the trust terms during that window, whichever is later.2California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 16061.7 – Trustee’s Duty to Report Information and Account to Beneficiaries If you get this notification, find that boldfaced paragraph and read it carefully. That’s your deadline in writing.
How the Days Are Counted
The statute uses the word “served,” not “received.” Under California’s rules, service by mail is complete the moment the notification is deposited in the mail, not when it lands in your mailbox.3California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 1215
That distinction has real consequences. If the trustee mails the notification on March 1, your 120 days start on March 1, even if the letter doesn’t reach you until March 5. Save the envelope. The postmark, together with the proof of service, is what a court will look at if the timing of your petition is ever questioned.
File your petition in probate court on or before day 120. Filing is what counts, not preparing, not consulting an attorney, not gathering evidence. If the deadline is approaching and your case is not fully investigated, an attorney can file a petition that preserves your rights and then develop the evidence afterward.
The 60-Day Extension for Requesting the Trust
The trustee is not required to send you a copy of the actual trust document with the notification, only to tell you that you can ask for one. If you do ask, and you ask during the 120-day window, your deadline becomes the later of the original 120 days or 60 days from the date you receive the copy.1California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 16061.8
An example: you request the trust terms on day 100 and receive them on day 105. Your deadline is now day 165 rather than day 120. The extension exists because you cannot meaningfully evaluate a document you have never read. If you have any suspicion at all about the trust and you have not been sent a copy, request one in writing, keep proof of the request, and keep proof of the date you received the response.
When No Notification Is Ever Sent
If the trustee never sends the required notification, the 120-day clock never starts. A trustee who skips the notice, whether through negligence or deliberate avoidance, cannot later argue that you waited too long. Without valid service under Probate Code 16061.8, the statutory bar does not apply.
That does not mean you have unlimited time. Other limitation periods can apply depending on the basis of your challenge. A contest based on fraud, for instance, generally falls under the discovery rule, so the clock runs from the date you discovered the fraud or reasonably should have discovered it. If you learn about a trust and suspect something is wrong but never received a formal notification, talk to a probate attorney promptly rather than assuming the timeline is open-ended.
What Happens If You Miss the Deadline
Once the 120-day window closes, or the extended 60-day period if it applies, the court will not hear your contest. The strength of your evidence does not matter. A judge will not weigh medical records showing advanced dementia, will not review testimony about a manipulative caregiver, and will not consider handwriting analysis pointing to forgery. Late means dismissed.
After the deadline passes, the trust terms are final. The trustee is legally required to administer and distribute the assets exactly as the trust directs, and beneficiaries and heirs who missed the window have no further path to challenge the document’s validity. This is one of the few areas in California probate law with essentially no second chance.
Who Can Actually File a Contest
Timing only matters if you have the right to bring a contest in the first place. California requires standing, meaning the court’s decision about the trust’s validity would directly change your financial position. Under Probate Code 17200, a beneficiary of a trust may petition the court regarding the trust’s internal affairs, including its validity.4California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 17200
In practice, that generally means two groups: people named as beneficiaries in the trust (or in a prior version of it), and legal heirs who would inherit under California’s intestacy rules if no valid trust existed, such as a spouse, children, or siblings. Legal heirs have standing even if the current trust leaves them nothing, because invalidating it could redirect assets to them. A distant relative with no inheritance stake, a friend of the settlor, or a neighbor who disapproves of the terms cannot bring a contest.
Before You File: The No-Contest Clause Risk
Many California trusts include a no-contest clause, sometimes called an in terrorem clause, which threatens to disinherit any beneficiary who challenges the trust and loses. The deadline pressure to file quickly runs directly into this risk, so it is worth understanding before day 120 arrives.
California law provides a significant protection. A no-contest clause can only be enforced against a direct contest brought without probable cause. Probable cause means that, at the time you filed, the facts you knew would lead a reasonable person to believe there was a reasonable likelihood of success.5California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 21311 A direct contest for this purpose means a challenge alleging the trust is invalid on grounds such as forgery, lack of capacity, fraud, undue influence, or duress.6California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 21310 California courts also strictly construe no-contest clauses, interpreting them narrowly rather than broadly.7California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 21312
The probable cause standard is not a blank check. A contest built on vague suspicion or family gossip can cost you whatever the trust was going to give you. If the trust contains a no-contest clause, use whatever remains of your 120 days to gather concrete facts, not just theories, and get an attorney’s honest assessment before filing.