California · Standard edition

California Living Trust Template

Create a California living trust online. The Standard declaration creates a revocable or irrevocable trust and covers trustees and successors, trust property and funding, the grantor's lifetime rights, incapacity, distribution at death with backup beneficiaries, trustee powers and duties, spendthrift and no-contest provisions, and how to sign it under California law.

Start your California Living Trust

California rules built into this template

  • Governing law: a California trust is governed by the California Probate Code (Division 9, Trust Law).
  • Signing: A California trust is revocable unless the trust instrument expressly makes it irrevocable (Cal. Prob. Code § 15400). The grantor should sign the trust declaration before a notary so that deeds and account transfers to the trustee are accepted. After the grantor's death, the trustee must serve notice on the beneficiaries and the grantor's heirs within 60 days (Cal. Prob. Code § 16061.7).
  • Funding: a living trust controls only property transferred into it, such as real estate deeded to the trustee and accounts retitled in the trustee's name.

What the Living Trust includes

  1. Declaration and Name
  2. Trustees
  3. Trust Property and Funding
  4. Revocability
  5. Rights During the Grantor's Lifetime
  6. Incapacity
  7. Distribution at the Grantor's Death
  8. Trustee Powers
  9. Trustee Duties
  10. Spendthrift Provision
  11. No-Contest Provision
  12. State Law and Signing
  13. Important Notice
  14. Governing Law

Frequently asked questions

How do you sign a living trust in California?
A California trust is revocable unless the trust instrument expressly makes it irrevocable (Cal. Prob. Code § 15400). The grantor should sign the trust declaration before a notary so that deeds and account transfers to the trustee are accepted. After the grantor's death, the trustee must serve notice on the beneficiaries and the grantor's heirs within 60 days (Cal. Prob. Code § 16061.7).
Does a living trust avoid probate?
Property properly transferred to a living trust generally passes to the beneficiaries without probate. Property left outside the trust may still need probate, which is why a pour-over will is usually signed with the trust.
What is the difference between the Standard and Professional Living Trust?
The Standard edition is a complete, state-aware Living Trust for common situations. The Professional edition adds longer clause coverage, schedules, and optional modules for more complex matters. You can preview either edition free before you pay.

Living Trust templates for other states

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Start your California Living Trust