California Certificate of Trust by Individual
CALIFORNIA PROBATE CODE
DIVISION 9. TRUST LAW
PART 6. RIGHTS OF THIRD PERSONS
CHAPTER 2. PROTECTION OF THIRD PERSONS
(a) The trustee may present a certification of trust to
any person in lieu of providing a copy of the trust instrument to establish
the existence or terms of the trust. A certification of trust may be executed
by the trustee voluntarily or at the request of the person with whom the
trustee is dealing.
(b) The certification of trust may confirm the following facts or
contain the following information:
(1) The existence of the trust and date of execution of
the trust instrument.
(2) The identity of the settlor or settlors and the currently acting
trustee or trustees of the trust.
(3) The powers of the trustee.
(4) The revocability or irrevocability of the trust and the identity
of any person holding any power to revoke the trust.
(5) When there are multiple trustees, the signature authority of
the trustees, indicating whether all or less than all of the currently
acting trustees are required to sign in order to exercise various powers
of the trustee.
(6) The trust identification number, whether a social security
number or an employer identification number.
(7) The manner in which title to trust assets should be taken.
(c) The certification shall contain a statement that the trust has
not been revoked, modified, or amended in any manner which would cause
the representations contained in the certification of trust to be incorrect
and shall contain a statement that it is being signed by all of the currently
acting trustees of the trust. The certification shall be in the form of
an acknowledged declaration signed by all currently acting trustees of
the trust.
(d) The certification of trust shall not be required to contain
the dispositive provisions of the trust which set forth the distribution
of the trust estate.
(e) A person may require that the trustee offering the certification
of trust provide copies of those excerpts from the original trust documents
and amendments thereto which designate the trustee and confer upon the
trustee the power to act in the pending transaction. Nothing in this section
is intended to require or imply an obligation to provide the dispositive
provisions of the trust or the entire trust and amendments thereto.
(f) 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. A person who does
not have actual knowledge that the facts contained in the certification
of trust are incorrect may assume without inquiry the existence of the
facts contained in the certification of trust. Actual knowledge shall not
be inferred solely from the fact that a copy of all or part of the trust
instrument is held by the person relying upon the trust certification.
Any transaction, and any lien created thereby, entered into by the trustee
and a person acting in reliance upon a certification of trust shall be
enforceable against the trust assets. However, if the person has actual
knowledge that the trustee is acting outside the scope of the trust, then
the transaction is not enforceable against the trust assets. Nothing contained
herein shall limit the rights of the beneficiaries of the trust against
the trustee.
(g) A person's failure to demand a certification of trust does not
affect the protection provided that person by Section 18100, and no inference
as to whether that person has acted in good faith may be drawn from the
failure to demand a certification of trust. Nothing in this section is
intended to create an implication that a person is liable for acting in
reliance upon a certification of trust under circumstances where the requirements
of this section are not satisfied.
(h) Except when requested by a beneficiary or in the context of
litigation concerning a trust and subject to the provisions of subdivision
(e), any person making a demand for the trust documents in addition to
a certification of trust to prove facts set forth in the certification
of trust acceptable to the third party shall be liable for damages, including
attorney's fees, incurred as a result of the refusal to accept the certification
of trust in lieu of the requested documents if the court determines that
the person acted in bad faith in requesting the trust documents.
Div. 9, Part 6, Chap. 2, §18100.5.
