A certificate of trust is a legal document that certifies the existence of a trust and the trustees legal authority to act. It is a shortened version of a trust document that can be presented to financial institutions in lieu of the original trust document. The certificate of trust contains only the necessary information for financial institutions, omitting sensitive details of the trust that you may not want to share. It is a wise choice if youre concerned about keeping the personal information in your trust private.

A certification of trust gives a trustee the ability to provide anyone who needs it, such as financial institutions or other third parties, important information about the trust, like the date it was formed, the legal/formal name of the trust, who the trustee is (or trustees are), and other information institutions may require before allowing a trustee to act.

Not all states have statute sections on Certification of Trusts, but those that do follow. If youre dealing with a trust in any of the states that have statute sections on Certification of Trusts, and the Trust Certification complies with the state statute laid out, financial and other institutions must accept the certification or they may face legal and financial consequences.

A certification of trust must contain the following information:

• A statement that the trust exists and the date
• The identity of the settlor
• The identity and address of the currently acting trustee
• The powers of the trustee
• The revocability or irrevocability of the trust
• The authority of co-trustees to sign or act
• The trusts taxpayer identification number
• The manner of taking title to trust property

A certification of trust must be signed or otherwise authenticated by one or more of the trustees. A third party may require that the certification of trust be acknowledged. A certification of trust must state that the trust has not been revoked, modified, or amended in any manner that would cause the representations contained in the certification of trust to be incorrect. A person who acts in reliance upon a certification of trust without actual knowledge that the representations contained therein are incorrect is not liable to any person for so acting and may assume without inquiry the existence of the facts contained in the certification.