El texto completo de esta guía está en inglés; el resumen anterior está en su idioma. Los resúmenes de las leyes y el inglés siguen siendo la fuente de referencia.
Administration · 6 min de lectura
What it is for
Instead of furnishing a copy of the trust instrument to evidence the trust's existence and validity, the trustee may furnish a certification of trust, signed by the trustee or trustees with signatory authority and attested by a notary public (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-1013(a)). The trustee may still choose to provide copies of all or part of the instrument and its amendments ((c)).
The nine statements
A certification contains: (1) an affirmation of the trust's current existence and the date it came into existence; (2) the identity of the settlor or settlors, the currently acting trustee or trustees and the named successor trustee or trustees, or a statement that none is named; (3) the trustee's administrative or managerial powers; (4) whether the trust is revocable or irrevocable and the identity of any person holding a power to revoke; (5) where there are multiple trustees or successor trustees, the signature authority — whether all or fewer than all are required to sign; (6) where successors are designated, the conditions for their succession, or a statement that a third party may rely on a successor's authority without proof of succession; (7) the trust's identification number, only if it is essential to the transaction; (8) the manner in which trust assets should be titled; and (9) a statement that, to the trustee's knowledge, the trust has not been revoked, modified or amended in any manner that would make the certification's representations incorrect (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-1013(a)(1)–(9)).
What it leaves out
The certification is not required to contain the dispositive provisions that set out the distribution of the trust estate ((b)), and nothing in the section requires or implies an obligation to provide the dispositive provisions or a copy of the entire instrument ((c)). That is how the family's distribution plan stays private while the trustee's authority is shown.
Who may rely on it, and how far
A person who acts in reliance on a certification without actual knowledge that its representations are incorrect is not liable to anyone for so acting, and may assume its facts without inquiry; actual knowledge is not inferred merely because the person holds a copy of all or part of the instrument; and a person relying on it is indemnified from the trust's assets, to the extent of the share of any beneficiary who sues the person over the transaction (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-1013(d)). Failing to request a certification takes nothing away from a person's protections ((e)), and a person dealing with a trustee in good faith need not inquire into the extent of the trustee's powers (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-1012(b)).
What a third party may still do
The section does not require a third party presented with a certification to enter into a contract with the trustee, and does not stop the third party from asking for additional information to clarify an ambiguity or inconsistency in it (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-1013(f)). It does not limit a person's right to obtain a copy of the instrument in a judicial proceeding concerning the trust ((g)), and it does not limit the beneficiaries' rights against the trustee ((d)).
Keeping it current
Because the certification states who the acting trustee is and that the trust has not been changed in a way that makes it incorrect ((a)(2), (9)), a change of trustee or an amendment that touches a stated fact is the moment to prepare a new one. The trustee's powers it describes come from the terms and from the statute's general and specific powers (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-815; § 35-15-816).
Las leyes, textualmente
Protection of person dealing with trustee
Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-1012 ↗Explicación clara y sencilla; el texto literal del estatuto aún no está atestiguado en nuestra biblioteca. Consulte el estatuto oficial en el enlace de arriba.
Certification of trust
Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-1013 ↗Explicación clara y sencilla; el texto literal del estatuto aún no está atestiguado en nuestra biblioteca. Consulte el estatuto oficial en el enlace de arriba.
Specific powers of trustee
Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-816 ↗Explicación clara y sencilla; el texto literal del estatuto aún no está atestiguado en nuestra biblioteca. Consulte el estatuto oficial en el enlace de arriba.
Preguntas frecuentes
Does a Tennessee certification of trust have to be notarized?
Yes — it is signed by the trustee or trustees with signatory authority and attested by a notary public (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-1013(a)).
Can a bank in Tennessee insist on the whole trust?
The section creates no obligation to provide the dispositive provisions or the entire instrument (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-1013(c)); a third party may decline to contract on a certificate and may ask for information to clarify an ambiguity or inconsistency ((f)).
What protects the bank that relies on the certification?
A person who relies on it without actual knowledge that it is incorrect is not liable for so acting, may assume its facts without inquiry, and is indemnified from the trust to the extent of the share of a beneficiary who sues over the transaction (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-1013(d)).
Lecturas relacionadas
El Centro de Aprendizaje es información general sobre la ley de Tennessee — no es asesoría legal ni sustituye el consejo de un abogado de Tennessee con licencia sobre sus hechos específicos. TrusteeClear es software, no un bufete.