Are trustees transferable after death of the trustor

The first step would be for you to have the trust document reviewed by an attorney to determine under what circumstances the trust itself provides for removal of the trustee. If the trust language does not give you sufficient authority to remove her, California law provides for the removal of a trustee where the trustee has committed a breach of the trust or where the trustee’s compensation is excessive, for example. In this latter scenario, you will have to hire a California attorney to file suit. However, if the trust provides a mechanism for appointment of a new trustee (which it should) you may be able to convince the trustee to resign and appoint a new trustee that the beneficiaries can agree upon. As for the merits of your situation, the trustee's conduct would be a serious breach of the trustee’s duty to keep the beneficiaries reasonably informed of the administration of the trust and to respond to information requests, under Oregon law. Obviously the trustee's conduct makes it impossible for your children to protect their interests. It may also indicate that there are more serious violations by the trustee. I would urge you to address this matter immediately.

While you might ultimately need to get a California attorney (we don't know that yet since we don't know what the terms of the trust are exactly), you should be able to get some communication going on by going to see an Oregon attorney and having the Oregon Attorney contact the California Attorney/Trustee. This is likely to work because when an attorney calls another attorney, the attorney being called realizes that they are being contacted by someone that understands that there are rules that govern trusts and that the trustee/attorney has to abide by those rules or they can be reported to their local bar association and face an investigation with possible penalties. So while it is not guaranteed, it usually gets their attention and stops the brush off that you are now getting. (Note: If you are not named as a direct or indirect beneficiary of the trust you might not have the right to get the information - but it sounds like your daughter who is in college may be over 18 and as an adult beneficiary should have the right to get more information - so she should join you when you go for legal advice.) In terms of the "rules" - all trusts are governed by their own terms, like a contract, but they are still subject to other rules. Most likely since your trust was drafted in California I would expect it has a provision that says that California law applies. While I would have to look those rules up (even an Oregon Lawyer can research the rules of another state), my educated guess is that California has laws that require the trust to disclose the terms of a trust to the beneficiaries, account for the funds, and while they can charge for their services they have a fiduciary duty to not charge more than a "reasonable" fee. ( FYI Currently there is a move to adopt a Uniform Trust Code that is replacing these State by State trust rule with a more uniform code - I don't know if California has adopted it yet. Oregon adopted theirs in 2005-2006. But the Uniform Trust Code is somewhat similar to the rules that states historically have had anyway, either in written laws or case decisions - its just that it is finally being made more uniform across the 50 states to hopefully help with multi-jurisdictional situations like yours.) Either the trust by its own terms, or applicable California law, or a combination of both will inform you of your rights and options in getting a new trustee or transferring the location of the administration. However if your father's reason for hiring an independent trustee was that he expressly didn't want family members managing the trust - then you are not going to get to move the management to a family member. You should make sure you have a copy of your father's death certificate because you may have to prove that your father died before you can get any information.