How Long Do You Have to Contest a Trust or Will in California?

How long do you have to contest a trust in California? The short answer is 120 days, counted from the day the trustee mails you a formal notice after a parent dies (Probate Code § 16061.8). Wills have their own clock: object before the will is admitted to probate, or file to revoke within 120 days after it is admitted (Probate Code § 8270).

Here's the thing most people miss. Those two short fuses are not the only ones. Claims against a person who has died carry a one-year limit, claims against a trustee run three years from an accounting, and financial elder abuse runs four years from discovery. More than one clock can be running at once.

If you want a date, the deadline wizard asks a few questions and gives you one. Then talk to a lawyer, because every one of these rules has an exception that turns on facts.

When does the 120-day deadline to contest a trust start?

When someone dies with a living trust, the successor trustee has 60 days to mail a formal notice to every beneficiary and heir (Probate Code § 16061.7). Lawyers call it the 16061.7 notice. When the trigger is a death, it must carry a warning in bold, and that warning is the whole game: "You may not bring an action to contest the trust more than 120 days from the date this notification by the trustee is served upon you or 60 days from the date on which a copy of the terms of the trust is delivered to you during that 120-day period, whichever is later."

That is the rule in Probate Code § 16061.8. Three details decide real cases:

• The clock runs from mailing, not from the day you read the letter. Service by mail is complete on deposit (Probate Code § 1215). Count from the postmark.
• There is no five-day mail extension. In Bridgeman v. Allen a petition filed 133 days after service was thrown out.
• Filing is what counts, not serving. In Straley v. Gamble the petition was filed inside the window and served two months later. Timely.

A notice mailed late, after the trustee's own 60-day deadline, still starts your 120 days.

How long do you have to contest a trust with no notice?

This is the most common question from families in San Jose, Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, and across Santa Clara County. The honest answer: the law is unsettled.

The 120-day rule, by its own words, applies to "a person upon whom the notification by the trustee is served." No notice, no 120 days. But no notice does not mean no deadline. Three things can still end your case:

• Fraud carries a three-year clock from discovery of the facts (Code of Civil Procedure § 338).
• California's catch-all limit is four years (Code of Civil Procedure § 343).
• Laches. That is a court's power to dismiss a case because you waited too long and the delay hurt the other side. In Drake v. Pinkham a daughter knew about the trust amendments for years and waited until her mother died. She lost on laches alone.

No published California appellate decision I could find says which of those governs when no notice was served. That cuts both ways: the trustee cannot wave a 120-day bar at you, but every month you have known the facts is ground lost. Treat it as a this-week problem.

One more trap. If the letter did not carry the warning in bold, the court in Harustak v. Wilkins held the 120 days never started. A notice that only left out a minor line, where you already had the trust, still counted (Germino v. Hillyer). Bring the letter to your first meeting.

How long do you have to contest a will in California?

If a parent died with a will and no trust, the estate goes through probate. In Santa Clara County that means the probate court in San Jose. The answer turns on whether the will has been admitted yet:

• Before admission, file a written objection; a summons issues and the other side has 30 days to respond (Probate Code § 8250). Be on file before the court admits the will.
• After admission, you have 120 days from the order to petition to revoke probate (Probate Code § 8270). A minor, or an adult who was incompetent with no guardian or conservator at the time, can petition any time before final distribution.
• Found a newer will after an older one was admitted, and you had notice of the first petition? You get the later of 120 days after the order or 60 days after you learned of it (Probate Code § 8226).

Miss the 120 days and the admission becomes conclusive (Probate Code § 8226), with extrinsic fraud as the only door left (Probate Code § 8007). Our guide to contesting a will in California covers the grounds and process.

What is the one-year rule for claims against someone who died?

This deadline surprises families because it is not about the will or the trust at all. If you could have sued a person while they were alive, and that person dies, you get one year from the date of death (Code of Civil Procedure § 366.2). The normal limit, even a longer one, disappears.

Example: a caregiver took your mother's money and has since died. Your claim is one year from the caregiver's death. Stoltenberg v. Newman applied the rule to fraud claims even though the lawsuit was against a successor trustee.

The statute "shall not be tolled or extended for any reason" except a few listed procedures. Those are the weekend rule and a formal creditor's claim in the probate or trust claims process (Probate Code §§ 9100, 9352, 19100, 19253). Being a minor does not pause it (Levine v. Levine). A promise to leave you something gets the same one year (Code of Civil Procedure § 366.3).

What are the longer deadlines for trustees and elder abuse?

How long do you have to sue a trustee for breach of trust?

A trustee who self-deals, wastes assets, or refuses to distribute can be ordered to repay the trust and removed (Probate Code §§ 16420, 15642). The money claim runs three years from a written account or report that fairly disclosed the problem, or three years from discovery if you never got one (Probate Code § 16460). A bank statement or a letter can count as a "written report." Ask for an accounting in writing. If the trustee stalls for 60 days, the court can order one (Probate Code § 17200).

How long do you have to sue for financial elder abuse?

Taking or keeping property of a person 65 or older for a wrongful use, with intent to defraud, or by undue influence is financial elder abuse (Welfare and Institutions Code § 15610.30). File within four years after you discover, or should have discovered, the facts (Welfare and Institutions Code § 15657.7). A winning plaintiff recovers attorney's fees (Welfare and Institutions Code § 15657.5) and can ask for double the value taken (Probate Code § 859). If the abuser has died, the one-year rule takes over. Our guide to elder financial abuse of a parent covers who can be liable and what comes back.

Can the deadline to contest a trust be extended or paused?

Things that help:

• Weekends and holidays. A last day on a Saturday, Sunday, or court holiday rolls to the next court day (Code of Civil Procedure § 12a).
• A copy of the trust delivered inside the 120 days: at least 60 days from that delivery.
• A notice with no bold warning: under Harustak, the clock has not started.
• A formal creditor's claim: it pauses the one-year rule until the claim is allowed or rejected, then you have 90 days to sue (Probate Code §§ 9352, 9353, 19253, 19255).
• Concealment. Where trustees hid the facts and never sent the notice, a court applied the delayed discovery rule (Asaro v. Maniscalco).

Things that do not help:

• Waiting for the trustee to "finish." The 120 days runs while assets are still being gathered.
• Talking. Calls, emails, demand letters, and family meetings stop nothing. Only a filed petition does.

Missing a deadline can cost more than the case. Many trusts have a no-contest clause, enforceable against a direct contest filed without probable cause (Probate Code § 21311). In Meiri v. Shamtoubi a contest filed months late was held to be exactly that. The daughter lost her entire inheritance.

What are the deadlines to contest a trust or will in California?

Every row has exceptions; the wizard walks through the common ones.