California Trust Funding Calculator

What Does It Mean to “Fund” a Trust?

Funding a trust means retitling assets out of your individual name and into the name of the trust. Signing the trust document creates the trust under California law. Funding is the step that makes it work. Any asset you forget to retitle passes outside the trust, usually through probate.

Think of it this way. The trust document is the container. Funding is what you put inside. An empty container protects nothing.

A pour-over will acts as a safety net. It catches assets you never retitled, but only by sending them through probate first. That means the same fees, the same delay, and the same public court file you were trying to avoid. To see the mechanics step by step, read our guide on how to fund a trust.

One technical point worth knowing. California Probate Code Section 16061.7 sets the trustee’s duty to notify beneficiaries and heirs. That notice is triggered when a revocable trust becomes irrevocable at the settlor’s death, not by whether a given asset was funded. The practical lesson is the same: the trust governs only the assets actually titled in it.

The Six Asset Categories the Calculator Audits

This calculator scores trust funding across the six asset categories that cover nearly all California trust funding work: real property, brokerage accounts, bank accounts, business interests, vehicles, and personal property. Each category carries a weight based on its value and its cost to probate.

A quick note on vehicles. Vehicles and vessels registered under the Vehicle Code are excluded from the small-estate value count under Probate Code Section 13050. The DMV also has its own post-death transfer process, a REG 5 affidavit for transfer without probate. California does not offer a lifetime transfer-on-death registration for vehicles, so this is a post-death affidavit, not a TOD designation. The calculator treats vehicles as a low-weight item with a skip option.

What the Calculator Does Not Score

Two asset categories use beneficiary designations instead of retitling: retirement accounts and life insurance. The calculator flags them for a separate beneficiary review rather than scoring them, because naming the trust as beneficiary is often the wrong move.

Retirement accounts

For most California families, the trust should not be the primary beneficiary of an IRA or 401(k). The SECURE Act 10-year payout rule and the see-through trust rules create real tax complications. In most cases, the better answer is to name your spouse as primary beneficiary. Name your adult children as contingent beneficiaries, each at a percentage. A designated-beneficiary trust makes sense only for special situations, such as a special-needs beneficiary, asset-protection goals, or generation-skipping objectives. Review your beneficiary designations any time you sign or update a trust.

Life insurance

Life insurance also uses beneficiary designations. For most policies, name your spouse first and your children as contingents. Name the trust only when no individuals are available, or for minor or special-needs beneficiaries.

Estate tax is a concern only for larger estates. The federal estate and gift tax exemption is $15 million per individual for 2026. Married couples have a combined $30 million exemption, indexed for inflation. If your estate approaches those numbers, an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT) can keep the proceeds out of your taxable estate under IRC Section 2042.

How the Probate Exposure Number Is Calculated

Probate exposure is the total value of assets that would pass through probate if you died today. The calculator adds up the unfunded asset values you enter. It then applies the California statutory fee schedule and doubles the result, because the personal representative and the attorney each receive a full fee.

California Probate Code Sections 10800 and 10810 set the same sliding fee scale for the personal representative and the attorney.

The combined statutory fee is the doubled schedule, the personal representative fee plus the attorney fee. This fee is a maximum, and it is negotiable. The personal representative and the attorney may agree to a lesser amount (CEB, California Trust Administration, Section 10.26). For a standalone breakdown, see our California probate fees page. You can read the fee statute itself at California Probate Code Section 10800.

Treat this number as a ceiling, not a prediction. It assumes a full formal probate. Many unfunded assets avoid formal probate entirely through California summary procedures. The dollar thresholds are set by Probate Code Section 890 and adjusted by the Judicial Council. Use the figure that matches the date of death.

Confirm the current dollar limits on Judicial Council Form DE-300 for the date of death, since these figures adjust over time.

When Funding Falls Through the Cracks: The Heggstad Petition

A Heggstad petition under California Probate Code Section 850 is the cleanup tool when a settlor meant to put an asset into the trust but never finished retitling it. The trustee asks the court to confirm the asset belongs to the trust. Filed correctly, it can move real estate into the trust in about three to four months.

Settlor intent is the key element. Helpful evidence includes the trust’s schedule of assets, the pour-over will, and a declaration from the attorney who drafted the trust. Any document showing the asset was meant to be funded can support the petition.

A Heggstad petition does not work in every case. If the settlor’s intent is unclear or contested, full probate may be required. To learn more, see our Heggstad petition complete guide under Probate Code Section 850, or read the statute at California Probate Code Section 850.

Practice scope note. From our Carlsbad office, Opelon LLP handles non-contested Heggstad petitions as part of our trust administration services in San Diego County. For contested Heggstad petitions or beneficiary disputes, we refer to California trust litigation attorneys.

The Three Most Common Funding Mistakes We See in San Diego County

In our experience working with San Diego County families on trust administration after a death, three funding failures come up again and again: a refinanced home left in the borrower’s name, accounts opened after the trust was signed, and brokerage TOD designations that were never updated.

1. The house was refinanced and left in the borrower’s name. Many lenders require the property to be deeded out of the trust to refinance. The transfer back to the trust after closing is the step that gets forgotten.
2. A new bank account was opened after the trust was signed. The account goes into the grantor’s individual name, and the funding worksheet never gets updated. Every account opened after signing is unfunded unless someone catches it.
3. A brokerage TOD designation was never changed. The trust exists, but the firm’s transfer-on-death form still names individuals. The TOD designation controls at death, so the account skips the trust entirely.

Each of these is fixable while you are alive. After a death, the right cleanup depends on the asset and its value. A Heggstad petition handles forgotten real estate. A small-estate affidavit covers personal property. For a primary residence worth $750,000 or less, a petition to determine succession to real property may fit. When no summary procedure applies, full formal probate may be required.