In a Sale
What This Means When the House Is Being Sold
Trust beneficiaries and their shares are private, and families are right to resist handing a full trust instrument to everyone who asks. The certification exists so they do not have to. It confirms the trust's name and date, who is serving as trustee, and that the trustee holds the power to sell and convey real property.
The friction comes from what gets left out. A certification that omits the amendment naming the current trustee is not much use, and one that says nothing about the power to sell leaves the underwriter with the question it was meant to answer. Escrow comes back and asks, and each round trip costs days.
Requirements are not uniform. Some title companies accept a certification alone, some want the pages of the trust granting the selling power, and some want the whole instrument regardless. That is a question with a fast answer if it is asked before a property is listed rather than during escrow.
Sequence
Compare
Not to Be Confused With
- This TermCertification of Trust
- Often Mistaken ForCertificate of Incumbency
- Often Mistaken ForTrust Funding
- Often Mistaken ForRevocable Living Trust
What Tells Them Apart
A certification of trust proves the trust and what it permits. A certificate of incumbency addresses who is serving and can sign, and title companies sometimes want both. A revocable living trust is the underlying arrangement all of this describes rather than a competing document. Neither certificate says whether the house is actually in the trust, which is what trust funding covers.
Nevada
In Nevada
Nevada recognizes a certification of trust as a substitute for the full instrument, and a party accepting one in good faith generally has protection for doing so.
Questions
Questions People Ask
Do I have to give the title company my whole trust?
Often not. A certification of trust is designed to substitute for the full instrument, so beneficiaries and their shares stay private. Some underwriters still ask for specific pages, particularly the ones granting the power to sell. What a given company requires is worth confirming before listing.
What does a certification of trust need to include?
Typically the trust's name and date, the identity of the trustee currently serving, confirmation that the trust has not been revoked, and the trustee's authority to sell and convey real property. The attorney who drafted or administers the trust normally prepares it.
Who prepares a certification of trust?
Usually the attorney who handles the trust, though trustees sometimes prepare one from a form. Because it is the document a title underwriter relies on, having it prepared by someone who has read the trust and its amendments avoids the back and forth a form version tends to produce.