הטקסט המלא של מדריך זה באנגלית; התקציר שלמעלה בשפתכם. תקצירי החוקים והנוסח האנגלי נשארים המקור המחייב.
Getting started · 6 דק' קריאה
Why the trust usually needs its own number
While the settlor lived, a revocable trust commonly reported under the settlor's own Social Security number. After the death the trust is irrevocable and, for federal tax purposes, a separate taxpayer, so the successor trustee generally obtains an employer identification number for it from the Internal Revenue Service — a federal step outside the Tennessee Code. Tennessee itself imposes no inheritance tax in the case of a person who died in 2016 or later (Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-8-318), and its tax on income from stocks and bonds ended for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2021 (Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-2-124), so the trust's state tax picture is usually simpler than its federal one.
Opening the account in the trust's name
The Tennessee Uniform Trust Code lets a trustee deposit trust money in an account in a regulated financial-service institution (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-816(b)(4)), and has the trustee keep the trust property separate from the trustee's own and designated so that the trust's interest appears, to the extent feasible, in records kept by someone other than a trustee or beneficiary (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-810(b), (c)). An account titled to the trustee as trustee of the named trust, rather than to the trustee personally, is how that designation usually appears at a bank. Taking control of the trust property and protecting it is a duty from the outset (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-809).
Proving authority with a certification of trust
Instead of handing over the trust instrument, 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)). It states the trust's existence and the date it came into existence; the settlor, the currently acting trustee and the named successor, or that none is named; the trustee's administrative or managerial powers; whether the trust is revocable and who holds a power to revoke; for multiple trustees, the signature authority; for successor trustees, the conditions of their succession or a statement that a third party may rely on a successor's authority without proof of succession; the trust's identification number, only where it is essential to the transaction; the manner in which trust assets should be titled; and that, to the trustee's knowledge, the trust has not been revoked, modified or amended in a way that makes the certification incorrect ((a)(1)–(9)). It need not contain the dispositive provisions ((b)).
What the bank may rely on, and may still ask
A person who acts in reliance on a certification of trust without actual knowledge that its representations are incorrect is not liable for so acting, and may assume the facts it contains without inquiry (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-1013(d)); a person dealing with a trustee in good faith is not required to inquire into the extent of the trustee's powers or the propriety of their exercise (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-1012(b)). The statute does not require a third party to contract with the trustee on a certificate, and lets it ask for additional information to clarify an ambiguity or inconsistency in it (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-1013(f)) — a bank's own form or a follow-up question is within the statute, while nothing in the section obliges the trustee to provide the dispositive provisions or the whole instrument ((c)).
Keeping the account clean
Every receipt and payment that runs through the trust account becomes part of the adequate records the trustee keeps (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-810(a)). The same records answer a qualified beneficiary's request for information related to the administration (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-813(a)(2)) and support any report or discharge notice the trustee later sends (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-817(c)).
החוקים, מילה במילה
Protection of person dealing with trustee
Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-1012 ↗הסבר ברור ופשוט; נוסח החוק המילולי טרם אושר בספרייה שלנו. ראו את החוק הרשמי בקישור למעלה.
Certification of trust
Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-1013 ↗הסבר ברור ופשוט; נוסח החוק המילולי טרם אושר בספרייה שלנו. ראו את החוק הרשמי בקישור למעלה.
Control and protection of trust property
Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-809 ↗הסבר ברור ופשוט; נוסח החוק המילולי טרם אושר בספרייה שלנו. ראו את החוק הרשמי בקישור למעלה.
Recordkeeping and identification of trust property
Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-810 ↗הסבר ברור ופשוט; נוסח החוק המילולי טרם אושר בספרייה שלנו. ראו את החוק הרשמי בקישור למעלה.
Specific powers of trustee
Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-816 ↗הסבר ברור ופשוט; נוסח החוק המילולי טרם אושר בספרייה שלנו. ראו את החוק הרשמי בקישור למעלה.
Inheritance tax: applicability to decedents who die in 2016 or later
Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-8-318 ↗הסבר ברור ופשוט; נוסח החוק המילולי טרם אושר בספרייה שלנו. ראו את החוק הרשמי בקישור למעלה.
שאלות נפוצות
Does a Tennessee trust need its own EIN after the settlor dies?
Generally, yes — after the death the trust is a separate taxpayer for federal purposes, and the successor trustee obtains a number from the Internal Revenue Service. That is a federal question outside the Tennessee Code; a licensed Tennessee attorney or a tax advisor can confirm it for your trust.
Does the bank get to see the whole trust?
The trustee may furnish a certification of trust instead of the instrument, and the certification need not contain the dispositive provisions (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-1013(a), (b)); the section imposes no obligation to provide the dispositive provisions or the entire document ((c)), though a court may order a copy in a judicial proceeding ((g)).
Can the bank decline to deal with me on a certification?
The statute does not require a third party to enter into a contract on a certificate, and lets it ask for information to clarify an ambiguity or inconsistency (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-1013(f)); a person who relies on a certification without actual knowledge that it is incorrect is protected ((d)).
קריאה קשורה
- The certification of trust (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-1013): what it says, who relies on it, and why the whole trust stays private
- Records and receipts: what a Tennessee trustee keeps, and why
- You were named successor trustee. What does Tennessee law expect?
- Tennessee Trustee Powers (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-815)
- Tennessee/after death trustee
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