When is a trust accounting required?

The duty to account

At the heart of every trust is a simple obligation: the trustee has to keep the beneficiaries reasonably informed and account for what happens to the trust's assets. This isn't optional paperwork or a courtesy — it's a core fiduciary duty. Holding someone else's money means being able to show, on request and at set intervals, what came in, what went out, and what's left. The question is usually not whether a trustee owes an accounting, but when one is due and in what form.

California: the usual triggers

In California, a trustee generally must account at least annually, at the termination of the trust, and on a change of trustee — and also any time a beneficiary makes a reasonable request, or a court orders it. The trustee's broader duty to keep beneficiaries reasonably informed and to report on request comes from Probate Code §16060–16063, and the annual-account requirement specifically lives in §16062. The trust instrument can adjust some of this, so the document itself matters — but the baseline expectation is regular, periodic accountings rather than silence until someone complains.

Florida: the usual triggers

Florida works much the same way. A trustee owes a duty to keep the qualified beneficiaries reasonably informed and to account to them, generally with annual trust accountings and on termination or a change of trustee. The duty to inform and account is set out in Fla. Stat. §736.0813, and the content and form of a trust accounting are addressed in §736.08135. As in California, the precise timing and any modifications can turn on the trust instrument, but the general rule is the same: periodic accountings to the people entitled to receive them.

The triggering event sets the format and the deadline

Not every accounting looks alike. An informal accounting sent directly to beneficiaries — to satisfy the annual duty or a reasonable request — is different from a formal, court-format accounting required inside a probate proceeding. The trigger is what determines which one you owe and by when. A routine annual report to beneficiaries is one thing; a court-format accounting (Cal. Probate Code §1061 in California, Fla. Prob. R. 5.346 in Florida) carries its own schedules and its own timeline. Knowing which event you're responding to tells you both the format and the deadline.

If you're already behind

If accountings have lapsed, the obligation doesn't disappear — it accumulates. A court can compel accountings for every missing period, not just the current one, and an accounting that can't be supported by records is exactly where personal-liability and surcharge exposure shows up. The reassuring part: being behind is a fixable problem. The path forward is to reconstruct the missing periods and get current, so each required accounting can stand on its own. If you're behind on an accounting →  What is a trustee surcharge? →

This is general information, not legal or tax advice; deadlines vary by court and by the trust instrument. Confirm specifics with your attorney.