Certificate of trust

What it means

A bank asked to open an account in a trust's name has a reasonable question — does this trust exist, and is this person entitled to act for it — and an unreasonable habit of answering it by demanding the whole trust document. The full document names every beneficiary and states every distribution, none of which the bank needs.

A certificate of trust answers the question and nothing else. It states that the trust exists, its name and date, who the trustee is, what powers they hold over the assets in question, and that the trust has not been revoked. It is signed by the trustee, usually before a notary. Most states have a statute setting out what it must contain and requiring institutions to accept one.

It is worth preparing at the same time as the trust rather than at the moment an institution asks, because the moment an institution asks is usually the moment somebody is trying to do something urgent.

Why it matters

It keeps the terms of a trust private from the counter staff of every institution that holds an asset.

It is also the document that gets a successor trustee moving after a death, without waiting for anybody's lawyer to produce a certified copy of the whole trust.

When you are likely to meet it

• When retitling a house or an account into a trust's name.
• When a successor trustee takes over after a death or an incapacity.
• When an institution asks for the full trust document and does not need it.

How this varies by state

What a certificate must contain, and whether an institution may refuse one, is set by state law — most states have adopted a version of the same provision.

Related terms

• Funding a trustActually moving property into a trust — retitling accounts and deeds into its name. An unfunded trust generally does not control assets that were never transferred into it.
• GrantorThe person who creates a trust and puts property into it.
• NotarizationA notary public confirming who you are and witnessing your signature, so that a document can be relied on by somebody who was not there.
• Revocable living trustA trust you create during your lifetime, keep control of, and can change or cancel at any time. Property held in it does not go through probate.
• Successor trusteeThe person who takes over a trust when the original trustee dies, resigns, or can no longer serve.
• TrusteeThe person or institution that holds and manages trust property for the people it is meant to benefit.

Sahvelo guidance that uses this

• Wills and trusts