---
type: "Bill"
title: "Testamentary additions to trusts."
description: "Existing law provides for the disposition of a testator's property by will. Existing law establishes the Uniform Testamentary Additions to Trusts Act, under which a valid devise of property may be made by will to the trustee or trustees of a trust established or to be established by the testator or by the testator and some other person or by some other person, commonly referred to as a pour-over will. Existing law authorizes that devise if the trust is identified in the testator's will and its terms are set forth in a written instrument other than a will executed before or concurrently with the execution of the testator's will."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20172018"
identifier: "AB 309"
citation: "California AB 309 (20172018)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Testamentary additions to trusts."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Maienschein"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 16
vote_count: 0
first_action: "2017-02-06"
last_action: "2017-06-28"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/acd56b33-1375-453a-b385-daeeece2b4d8"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB309"
source_hash: "7488bebcb0847e92491544a0ea914638986c2c484e6f1d712601fc4d7dd9c261"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ca"]
---

# California AB 309 (20172018) — Testamentary additions to trusts.

Existing law provides for the disposition of a testator's property by will. Existing law establishes the Uniform Testamentary Additions to Trusts Act, under which a valid devise of property may be made by will to the trustee or trustees of a trust established or to be established by the testator or by the testator and some other person or by some other person, commonly referred to as a pour-over will. Existing law authorizes that devise if the trust is identified in the testator's will and its terms are set forth in a written instrument other than a will executed before or concurrently with the execution of the testator's will.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **02/06/17 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB309&version=20170AB30999INT)
2. **03/15/17 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB309&version=20170AB30998AMD)
3. **06/28/17 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB309&version=20170AB30996CHP)
4. **AB309** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB309)
5. **06/13/17 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB309&version=20170AB30997ENR)

## Sponsors

- Maienschein — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2017-02-06** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2017-02-07** From printer. May be heard in committee March 9.
- **2017-02-21** Referred to Com. on JUD. `referral-committee`
- **2017-03-14** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 11. Noes 0.) (March 14). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, amendment-introduction`
- **2017-03-15** Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading. `reading-1, amendment-passage, reading-2`
- **2017-03-16** Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2017-03-23** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 76. Noes 0. Page 723.) `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2017-03-23** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2017-05-10** Referred to Com. on JUD. `referral-committee`
- **2017-06-06** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.) (June 6). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2017-06-07** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2017-06-12** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 38. Noes 0. Page 1486.). `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2017-06-12** In Assembly. Ordered to Engrossing and Enrolling. `committee-passage`
- **2017-06-16** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 11:30 a.m.
- **2017-06-28** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2017-06-28** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 33, Statutes of 2017.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/acd56b33-1375-453a-b385-daeeece2b4d8`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).