September 28, 1994
Securities and Exchange Commission
Judiciary Plaza
450 Fifth Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20549
Re: Rule 24f-2 Notice for
MERRILL LYNCH CALIFORNIA MUNICIPAL BOND
FUND OF THE
MERRILL LYNCH CALIFORNIA MUNICIPAL SERIES
TRUST
File No. 2-9658
Dear Sirs:
In accordance with the provisions of Rule 24f-2
under the Investment Company Act of 1940, Merrill
Lynch California Municipal Bond Fund of the
Merrill Lynch California Municipal Series Trust
(the "Fund") hereby files its Rule 24f-2 Notice
(the "Notice").
1. The Notice is being filed for the fiscal year
of the Fund ended August 31, 1994
(the "Fiscal Year").
2. No shares of beneficial interest of the Fund
which had been registered under the Securities
Act of 1933 (the "Securities Act") other than
pursuant to Rule 24f-2 remained unsold at the
beginning of the Fiscal Year.
3. No shares of beneficial interest were
registered under the Securities Act during
the Fiscal Year other than pursuant to Rule 24f-2.
4. 8,281,147 shares of beneficial interest were
sold during the Fiscal Year.*
5. 8,281,147 shares of beneficial interest were
sold during the Fiscal Year in reliance upon
registration pursuant to Rule 24f-2.
Transmitted with the Notice is an opinion of
Brown & Wood, counsel for the Fund, indicating
that the securities the registration of which
this Notice makes definite in number were
legally issued, fully paid for an non-
assessable.
______________
*Of this amount, 1,162,525 were Class A shares
which were sold at an aggregate price of
$14,098,320 and 7,118,622 were Class B shares
which were sold at an aggregate price of
$84,446,664. The aggregate sale price for all
shares of beneficial interest sold during the
Fiscal Year was $98,544,984.
<PAGE>
6. Since the aggregate sales price of
securities sold during the Fiscal Year in
reliance upon registration pursuant to Rule
24f-2 is less than the aggregate redemption
price of securities redeemed during the
Fiscal Year, no filing fee is required in
connection with the filing of this notice.
The calculation is as follows:
(i) Aggregate sale price for the 8,281,147
shares of beneficial interest sold
during the Fiscal Year in reliance
upon registration pursuant to
Rule 24f-2.*
$98,544,984
reduced by
(ii) Aggregate redemption price for
the 12,717,361 shares of beneficial
interest redeemed during the
Fiscal Year.**
$148,413,689
equals amount on which filing fee is based
$ -0-
Please direct any questions relating to this
filing to Jerry Weiss, Merrill Lynch Asset
Management, P.O. Box 9011, Princeton, NJ 08543,
(609) 282-1727 or to Laurin Blumenthal Kleiman at
Brown & Wood, One World Trade Center, New York,
New York 10048, (212) 839-8525.
Very truly yours,
MERRILL LYNCH CALIFORNIA MUNICIPAL BOND
FUND OF THE
MERRILL LYNCH CALIFORNIA MUNICIPAL SERIES
TRUST
By /s/ Jerry Weiss
- - - - - - - - - - -
Jerry Weiss
Secretary
_______________
**Of this amount, 1,287,071 were Class A shares which were
redeemed at an aggregate price of $15,074,976 and 11,430,290
were Class B shares which were redeemed at an aggregate
price of $133,338,713.
BROWN & WOOD
One World Trade Center
New York, N.Y. 10048-0557
Telephone: 212-839-5300
Facsimile 212-839-5599
September 23, 1994
Merrill Lynch California Municipal Series Trust
P.O. Box 9011
Princeton, New Jersey 08543-9011
Ladies and Gentlemen:
This opinion is furnished in connection with the
notice (the "Notice") to be filed by Merrill Lynch California
Municipal Series Trust, a Massachusetts business trust
(the "Trust"), with the Securities and Exchange Commission
pursuant to Rule 24f-2 under the Investment Company
Act of 1940, as amended. The Notice is being filed to
make definite the registration under the Securities Act
of 1933, as amended, of 12,717,361 shares of
beneficial interest, par value $0.10 per share, of the
Trust (the "Shares") which were sold during the Trust's
fiscal year ended August 31, 1994. The Shares all relate
to the series designated Merrill Lynch California Municipal
Bond Fund, which is one of two existing series of the Trust.
As counsel for the Trust, we are familiar with the
proceedings taken by it in connection with the
authorization, issuance and sale of the Shares. In addition,
we have examined and are familiar with the Declaration
of Trust of the Trust, the By-Laws of the Trust and such
other documents as we have deemed relevant to the
matters referred to in this opinion.
Based upon the foregoing, we are of the opinion that
the Shares were legally issued, fully paid and
non-assessable.
In rendering this opinion, we have relied as to matters
of Massachusetts law upon an opinion of Bingham, Dana
& Gould, dated September 22, 1994 rendered to the Trust.
We hereby consent to the filing of this opinion with the
Securities and Exchange Commission as an attachment
to the Notice.
Very truly yours,
