Petition to Remove Trustee in California: Grounds and Filing

To petition to remove a trustee in California, you file a petition under Probate Code Section 17200 in the Probate Division of the Superior Court, prove one of the grounds listed in Probate Code Section 15642, give at least 30 days’ notice to every trustee and beneficiary, and appear at the hearing to convince a judge that the trustee’s continued service would harm the trust or its beneficiaries. The filing fee is $435 in most counties as of January 1, 2026.¹

Who Has Standing to File

Probate Code Section 15642 limits who may ask the court to remove a trustee. The settlor (the person who created the trust), a co-trustee, or a beneficiary may file. The court can also act on its own motion, and for a charitable trust the California Attorney General has authority to petition.²

Family members who are not named beneficiaries do not have standing, no matter how strongly they feel about the trustee’s conduct. If you are not sure whether you qualify as a beneficiary, you can request a copy of the trust terms from the trustee under Section 17200.³

Grounds the Court Will Accept

A judge will not remove a trustee because beneficiaries are frustrated or dislike the person serving. The petition has to fit one of the grounds in Section 15642(b), supported by specific facts.

Breach of trust, including violations of the duty of loyalty or impartiality, such as using trust funds for personal expenses, making unauthorized investments, or favoring one beneficiary over another.
Insolvency of the trustee, or a physical or mental condition that substantially prevents them from managing the trust.
Hostility between co-trustees severe enough to impair administration. Personality clashes alone are not enough; the conflict must actually interfere with the trust’s operation.
Failure or refusal to act, including prolonged silence, refusal to provide accountings, or an unexplained failure to make distributions.
Excessive compensation given the size of the trust and the work involved.
Other good cause, a catch-all for conduct that threatens the trust or its beneficiaries but doesn’t fit neatly into the other categories.

The distinction that trips up many petitioners is the line between annoyance and legal grounds. A trustee who is slow to return calls but faithfully manages the assets is not removable. A trustee who refuses to account for a year of trust activity is engaged in the kind of conduct courts take seriously.

Drafting the Petitionh2>

There is no single Judicial Council form for trustee removal. The law requires a petition that satisfies Probate Code Section 17201: it must state facts showing the petition is authorized, identify the grounds for removal, and list the names and addresses of every person entitled to notice.⁴

Some counties provide their own local forms. Santa Clara County, for example, offers form PB-4034, a dedicated Petition to Remove Trustee with fields for the trust name, the trustee to be removed, and the grounds. Check your county probate court’s self-help page before drafting from scratch; a local form can prevent procedural errors.

Whether you use a local form or draft your own, the petition should include:

Trust identification: the trust name, the date it was created, and the settlor’s name.

Party information: your name and relationship to the trust, the trustee you want removed, and the names and addresses of every beneficiary and co-trustee.

Concrete factual allegations. Not “the trustee breached her duty” but “between March and August 2025, the trustee withdrew $47,000 from the trust’s brokerage account and deposited it into her personal checking account.”

The legal grounds under Section 15642(b) that your facts support.

The relief you are asking for: removal, appointment of a successor, an order for accounting, or some combination.

Attach supporting evidence as exhibits. Bank statements showing unexplained withdrawals, emails where the trustee refused to provide information, medical records establishing incapacity, or documentation of self-dealing all strengthen the petition. A signed declaration under penalty of perjury tying the exhibits to your factual allegations is essential.

Where to File and What It Costs

You file the petition with the Probate Division of the Superior Court in the county where the trust is principally administered. For a living trust, that is the county where the trustee manages its affairs. For a testamentary trust, filing can occur either where the decedent’s estate is administered or where the trust is principally administered.⁵

The filing fee is $435 in most counties as of January 1, 2026. Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Francisco add local courthouse construction surcharges and charge slightly more. If the trustee files a written opposition, they pay a separate $435 fee.¹ If you cannot afford the fee, submit form FW-001, Request to Waive Court Fees, and ask the court to waive it based on financial hardship.⁶

After filing, the clerk assigns a case number and sets a hearing date. Keep a filed-stamped copy of the petition; you will need it to serve the other parties.

Serving Notice on Every Required Party

Under Probate Code Section 17203, notice of the hearing must go to all trustees and all beneficiaries of the trust at least 30 days before the hearing date. If the trust is a charitable trust subject to Attorney General oversight, the Attorney General must also receive notice.⁷

For trustees and beneficiaries, notice can be sent by first-class mail to the last known address or delivered personally. You cannot serve the papers yourself. A third party (a process server, another adult not involved in the case, or a professional mailing service) must handle service. Anyone else whose legal rights would be affected by the petition, but who is not a trustee or beneficiary, must be served using the formal methods required for civil lawsuits, and the court cannot shorten the 30-day period for those individuals.

File the proof of service with the court before the hearing. Missing this step often results in the hearing being continued or the petition dismissed.

Requesting Emergency Suspension

If waiting for the full hearing would let the trustee cause irreparable harm, Section 15642(e) authorizes the court to act sooner. On petition from a co-trustee or beneficiary, or on its own motion, the court can compel the trustee to surrender trust property to a co-trustee, a receiver, or a temporary trustee, and can suspend some or all of the trustee’s powers while the removal petition is pending.²

A general allegation of mismanagement is not enough. You need evidence of imminent loss: bank records showing a pattern of escalating withdrawals, proof that real property is about to be sold below market value, or evidence that the trustee is moving assets out of the trust’s name.

The Hearing and Possible Outcomes

At the hearing the judge reviews the petition, the trustee’s response if one was filed, and the evidence submitted by both sides. The petitioner and the trustee, or their attorneys, appear to argue and answer questions. The judge is deciding whether the evidence establishes a statutory ground and whether continued service would be detrimental to the trust or its beneficiaries.

Outcomes vary. The court might:

Grant removal and appoint a successor. The order removes the trustee and names a replacement, often the successor designated in the trust document. If none is named or the named person declines, the court appoints someone, sometimes an independent professional.
Deny the petition. If the evidence does not rise to a recognized ground, the trustee stays.
Order corrective action short of removal. In borderline cases the court may order an accounting, reduce compensation, or require specific changes rather than remove the trustee outright.

When the court grants removal, Probate Code Section 15644 requires the former trustee to deliver all trust property to the successor and to preserve trust assets until the transfer is complete.⁸ The successor then has separate notification duties to the beneficiaries and, if applicable, to the IRS, which the new trustee handles rather than the petitioner.

The Risk of Filing Without Genuine Grounds

Section 15642(d) allows the court to order a petitioner who acted in bad faith to personally pay all or part of the trustee’s costs, including reasonable attorney fees, if it finds that removal would be contrary to the settlor’s intent.² Trust litigation attorneys in California commonly bill between $500 and $1,500 per hour depending on location and complexity, so an adverse fee award can be substantial.

A broader sanctions rule under Code of Civil Procedure Section 128.7 also applies. If the court finds a filing frivolous, meaning it lacked factual support or was presented for an improper purpose, monetary sanctions are available. The statute includes a 21-day safe harbor: a party served with a sanctions motion has 21 days to withdraw the challenged filing before the motion goes to the court.⁹

The fee-shifting provision requires both bad faith and a finding that removal would contradict the settlor’s intent, which is a high bar. The point is not to discourage a beneficiary with legitimate concerns, but to make sure your evidence supports your claims before you file.

Alternatives Worth Considering First

Court is expensive, slow, and public. Before filing, look at whether any of these paths could resolve the problem:

Provisions in the trust itself. Many trusts include their own mechanism for replacing a trustee, sometimes a beneficiary vote and sometimes a named trust protector with removal authority. Read the trust document first; a private mechanism can avoid court entirely.
Mediation. A neutral mediator can help the parties reach voluntary resignation, changes in administration, or a negotiated transition. Mediation stays private, and the details do not become part of the public record.
Voluntary resignation. A trustee who is overwhelmed or disengaged sometimes agrees to step down when asked directly, avoiding the cost and conflict of litigation.

When informal approaches fail and the trustee’s conduct genuinely threatens the trust, the court petition is the backstop that exists precisely because some trustees will not leave otherwise.

1
Judicial Branch of California. Statewide Civil Fee Schedule Effective January 1, 2026
2
California Legislative Information. California Code Probate Code 15642 – Resignation and Removal of Trustees
3
California Legislative Information. California Code PROB 17200 – Judicial Proceedings Concerning Trusts
4
California Legislative Information. California Code Probate Code 17201 – Commencement of Proceedings
5
California Legislative Information. California Code PROB 17005 – Proper County for Commencement of Proceedings
6
California Courts. Request to Waive Court Fees FW-001
7
California Legislative Information. California Code Probate Code 17203 – Notice of Hearing
8
California Legislative Information. California Code PROB 15644 – Vacancy in Office of Trustee
9
California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 128.7 – Sanctions