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 INSURED MUNICIPAL
BOND FUND OF THE
MERRILL LYNCH CALIFORNIA MUNICIPAL SERIES
TRUST
File No. 33-55864
Dear Sirs:
In accordance with the provisions of Rule 24f-2
under the Investment Company Act of 1940, Merrill
Lynch California Insured 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. 2,166,739 shares of beneficial interest were
sold during the Fiscal Year.*
5. 2,166,739 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, 301,766 Class A shares were sold
at an aggregate price of $3,025,910 and 1,864,973
Class B shares were sold at an aggregate price of
$18,580,245. The aggregate sale price for all
shares of beneficial interest sold during the
fiscal year was $21,606,155.
<PAGE>
6. In accordance with Paragraph (c) of Rule 24f-2,
the fee of $1,818.54 has been wired. Such fee
which relates to the 2,166,739 shares of beneficial
interest referred to in Paragraph 5 is based
upon the aggregate sale price for which such
securities were sold during the Fiscal Year,
reduced by the actual aggregate redemption or
repurchase price of shares of beneficial
interest redeemed or repurchased during the
Fiscal Year. The Fund did not apply the
redemption or repurchase price of any shares
of beneficial interest redeemed or repurchased
during the Fiscal Year pursuant to Rule 24e-2(a)
in filings made pursuant to Section 24(e)(1)
of the Investment Company Act of 1940.
The calculation of the amount on which
the filing fee is based as follows:
(i) Aggregate sale price for the
2,166,739 shares of beneficial
interest sold during the Fiscal
Year in reliance upon registration
pursuant to Rule 24f-2.
$21,606,155
reduced by
(ii) Aggregate redemption price for
the 1,672,130 shares of beneficial
interest redeemed during the
Fiscal Year.*
$16,332,415
equals amount on which filing fee is based
$ 5,273,740
Based upon the above calculation, $1,818.54 is
payable with respect to the registration of
2,166,739 shares of beneficial interest of the
Fund.
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 INSURED MUNICIPAL
BOND FUND OF
MERRILL LYNCH CALIFORNIA MUNICIPAL SERIES
TRUST
By /s/ Jerry Weiss
- - - - - - - - - - -
Jerry Weiss
Secretary
_______________
*Of this amount, 342,542 were Class A shares which
were redeemed at an aggregate price of $3,318,587
and 1,329,588 were Class B shares which were
redeemed at an aggregate price of $13,013,828.
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 2,166,739 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 Insured 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,
