Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

I'm sorry for your loss.

The successor trustee has 45 days from your mother's death to send a statutory Trustee Notice to you (and any other beneficiaries) that the trust has become irrevocable, that she is the currently acting trustee, and including the fact that you have the right to request a copy of the terms of the trust. (There are also other things which must be in the notice.) But you don't have to wait to get the Notice. You have the right to request a copy of the trust anytime. Do it in writing.

Not sure re: ashes. If your mother had a CA Advance Care Directive, the person who was her agent for health care decisions probably has post death authority re: disposition of remains.

California recognizes quasi-property rights in the remains of the deceased. These remains are defined as the body of a deceased person, including the body in any state of decomposition as well as cremated remains. (Health & Saf. Code, � 7001.)

Custody of the remains may be determined by testamentary disposition. (Health & Saf. Code, � 7150 et seq.) A health care directive is not a testamentary disposition, because it most likely fails to comply with California's will statute.

In the absence of a testamentary disposition, the right to the remains for disposal purposes rests with the next of kin.