Revocable vs Irrevocable Trust California: Complete Guide

California's default rule: revocable unless the document says otherwise

Probate Code §15400 is the starting point: "Unless a trust is expressly made irrevocable by the trust instrument, the trust is revocable by the settlor." The rule applies when the settlor lived in California when the trust was created, when the trust was signed in California, or when the document says California law governs.

The person who creates the trust is the settlor (also called the trustor or grantor). In a living trust the settlor is usually also the first trustee and the lifetime beneficiary. While the trust is revocable and you are competent, the trustee's duties run to you, not to your children or other beneficiaries, and the rights the Probate Code gives beneficiaries belong to you instead of them, unless the trust says otherwise (§15800(a)).

How a California revocable trust is revoked or amended

• By the method in the trust (§15401(a)(1)). Most trusts call for a signed writing delivered to the trustee.
• By a signed writing, other than a will, delivered to the trustee during your lifetime (§15401(a)(2)). This route is closed if the trust makes its own method the exclusive one, which is why a well drafted trust says exactly how an amendment must be signed.
• The power to revoke includes the power to modify, by the same procedure, unless the trust says otherwise (§15402). That is how an amendment or a restatement works.
• Your agent under a power of attorney cannot change the trust unless the trust expressly allows it (§15401(c)). If you want your agent to be able to move assets in or make limited changes during incapacity, the trust has to say so.
• A later will is not a revocation under the statutory method, which excludes wills (§15401(a)(2)). A new will that leaves things differently does not change who receives trust assets unless the trust itself allows revocation that way.

Joint trusts for married couples

When a couple creates one trust together, each spouse may revoke the trust as to the part that spouse contributed, unless the trust provides otherwise (§15401(b)(1)), and a spouse may give the other a power to revoke that part that continues after death (§15401(b)(2)). For community property the default is different: unless the trust expressly says otherwise, either spouse acting alone may revoke as to community property (Family Code §761(b), which §15401(b)(1) carves out). What happens at the first death depends on the document. Many trusts split into a survivor's share the survivor can still change and a deceased spouse's share that becomes irrevocable; simpler trusts let the survivor keep control of everything.

Changing an "irrevocable" trust under California law

An irrevocable trust cannot be changed by the settlor alone, but California gives several ways out. This matters when you are deciding whether to sign one, because the exits all need other people's agreement or a judge.

So a parent who signs an irrevocable trust for the children can still unwind it later with the written consent of every beneficiary, which includes anyone with a future or contingent interest, such as grandchildren named as alternates (§24(c)). If one beneficiary is a minor or cannot be found, that consent may be impossible without a court. Plan on the trust staying as written.

When a revocable trust becomes irrevocable

A revocable living trust becomes irrevocable at the settlor's death, at least for the part the settlor could revoke. Two California deadlines start then:

• The successor trustee must serve a notification by trustee on each beneficiary and each heir within 60 days of the death, or of the day the new trustee starts serving if the death left the trustee's office vacant (§16061.7(a)(1), (f)).
• A person served with that notice has 120 days from service, or 60 days after receiving a copy of the trust terms during that period if later, to contest the trust (§16061.8).

Incapacity does not make the trust irrevocable, but it changes who the trustee answers to. If no one holding the power to revoke is competent, the trustee must, within 60 days of receiving information establishing that incapacity, give the beneficiaries notice and a complete copy of the trust and amendments, and the duty to account runs to them (§15800(b)). The full after-death checklist is in our successor trustee duties checklist; the roles are defined in What is a trustee in California.

Creditors: what each kind of trust does and does not protect

Revocable trust: no protection while you are alive

Probate Code §18200: "If the settlor retains the power to revoke the trust in whole or in part, the trust property is subject to the claims of creditors of the settlor to the extent of the power of revocation during the lifetime of the settlor." A judgment creditor can reach your trust home and accounts the same as if they were in your own name. After death, §19001 makes the trust property available for the deceased settlor's debts and administration expenses to the extent the probate estate is not enough. The trust avoids probate; it does not avoid debts.

Irrevocable trust: protection only for interests you gave away

• Trusts for others. A spendthrift clause protecting a child's or other beneficiary's interest is generally enforced: their income interest cannot be transferred or reached by a money judgment until it is paid to them (§15300).
• Trusts for yourself. If you are a beneficiary of a trust you created, a spendthrift clause is invalid against your creditors, and if the trustee has discretion to pay you, your creditors can reach the most the trustee could pay you, up to what you contributed (§15304(a), (b)). A California trust cannot shield your own interest from your own creditors.
• Transfers to dodge a creditor. A transfer made with actual intent to hinder, delay or defraud a creditor, or without fair value while insolvent or about to take on debts you cannot pay, is voidable under the Uniform Voidable Transactions Act (Civil Code §3439.04). Being sued or threatened with suit before the transfer is one of the factors the statute lists (§3439.04(b)(4)).

Medi-Cal estate recovery

For members who die on or after January 1, 2017, Medi-Cal estate recovery reaches only the "probate estate" (Welfare and Institutions Code §14009.5(f)(3), (g)). Assets held in a funded revocable trust pass outside probate, so they are outside that definition. Qualifying for Medi-Cal long-term care is a separate question with its own asset limit and look-back rules; our Medi-Cal asset protection trust guide covers when an irrevocable trust is used for that.

Tax differences that actually change the choice

This section covers only how the two trust types differ. For everything a revocable trust does and does not do for your taxes, see living trust tax benefits in California.

Income tax

A trust you can revoke is a "grantor trust": you are treated as the owner of the trust property for income tax purposes (Internal Revenue Code §676(a)), and you report its income on your own return (IRC §671). California follows the same federal rules for trusts (Revenue and Taxation Code §17731). Nothing changes on your Form 1040 or Form 540 when you move accounts into a revocable trust.

An irrevocable trust that is not a grantor trust pays its own tax on income it keeps, and the federal brackets for trusts are compressed. For 2026 a trust reaches the 37% rate on taxable income over $16,000, while a single individual reaches it only over $640,600 (Rev. Proc. 2025-32). Example: a trust that keeps interest income and has $30,000 of taxable income in 2026 owes $3,851 plus 37% of the $14,000 over $16,000, or $9,031 in regular federal income tax. The 3.8% net investment income tax is added on top, because for a trust it starts at that same $16,000 top bracket (IRC §1411(a)(2)). California taxes a trust's entire income when a trustee or a non-contingent beneficiary is a California resident (R&T §17742(a)).

Estate and gift tax

Everything in your revocable trust is in your gross estate because you held the power to revoke (IRC §2038(a)). For 2026 the federal basic exclusion is $15,000,000 per person (IRC §2010(c)(3), as amended by Public Law 119-21). A properly drafted irrevocable trust can keep future growth out of your estate, but funding it is a gift. Gifts above the $19,000 annual exclusion per recipient for 2026 are reported on Form 709 and use part of the lifetime exclusion. A gift to a trust that gives the beneficiaries only future interests gets no annual exclusion at all (IRC §2503(b)) unless the trust is drafted for it. Below $15,000,000, removing assets from the estate saves no federal estate tax.

Basis at death: the cost people miss

Property in a revocable trust is treated as passing from the decedent (IRC §1014(b)(2)), so its basis resets to the value at death (§1014(a)). For a married couple's community property, both halves step up when the first spouse dies, as long as at least half was in the decedent's estate (§1014(b)(6)). Assets given away to an irrevocable trust that is outside the estate keep the giver's basis (IRC §1015(a)). The IRS ruled in Revenue Ruling 2023-2 that this is true even when the irrevocable trust is a grantor trust for income tax.

Property tax

A transfer into a trust is not a change in ownership while the trust is revocable or while the transferor is the present beneficiary (Revenue and Taxation Code §62(d)). So neither a revocable trust nor an irrevocable trust in which you keep the present benefit triggers reassessment. Reassessment questions come later: interests that vest in people other than the trustor when a revocable trust becomes irrevocable are a change in ownership (R&T §61(h)) unless an exclusion such as the Prop 19 parent-child exclusion applies. Details are in living trusts and California property tax and our Prop 19 guide.

Revocable vs irrevocable trust at a glance

Which one fits your situation

A revocable living trust fits most California homeowners: you want the house and accounts to pass without probate, you want to stay in charge, and your estate is below the federal exclusion. Without a trust, probate on a California home is costly; you can run the statutory fees for your home's value in our probate cost calculator. Local recording details for a trust deed are on our Los Angeles and Burbank pages.

An irrevocable trust is worth discussing with an attorney when one of these is true:

• Your estate, with life insurance, could exceed the $15,000,000 federal exclusion (an irrevocable life insurance trust, or gifts of growth assets).
• You are planning for Medi-Cal long-term care eligibility.
• A beneficiary receives SSI or Medi-Cal and needs a third-party special needs trust.
• You want to give assets away now and accept that you cannot take them back.

Most estate plans that use an irrevocable trust still keep a revocable trust for the home and accounts. Our office prepares revocable living trusts only: $400 for one person and $500 for a married couple. Keeping your home out of probate costs a $400 trust plus $100 deed. The $75 SB 2 fee is usually not charged on a deed moving your own home into your trust because the owner-occupier exemption is claimed on the deed; it is charged on rentals and other property (Government Code §27388.1(a)(2)).

Frequently Asked Questions

Related reading

• Living trust tax benefits in California
• Medi-Cal asset protection trusts
• Special needs trusts in California
• Successor trustee duties checklist
• Living trusts and property tax
• California probate cost calculator