Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

If it wasn't in the trust and was just titled in joint tenancy it passes to the surviving joint tenant.

When a co-owner of a joint bank accounts dies, the surviving co-owner of the account is entitled to the funds in those accounts.

You also appear to be quoting from part of the trust. However, without reviewing the entire language of the trust, it's impossible to know for sure what the provision concerns. I would guess that the trust provides that all taxes and expenses are to be paid from the trust and are not the responsibility of the beneficiaries or of non-trust property (such as the joint accounts or savings bonds). Essentially, the trustee would settle all these claims and debts prior to distributing all or most of the assets to the beneficiaries. In the case of taxes in particular, if the trust property is insufficient to pay such obligations, the tax authorities actually would have the right to attach other property outside the trust despite what the trust says.