(1) Instead of furnishing a copy of the trust instrument to a person other than a beneficiary, the trustee may furnish to the person a certification of trust containing the following information:

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Terms Used In Washington Code 11.98.075

  • Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • person: may be construed to include the United States, this state, or any state or territory, or any public or private corporation or limited liability company, as well as an individual. See Washington Code 1.16.080
  • Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
  • Trustee: means an original, added, or successor trustee and includes the state, or any agency thereof, when it is acting as the trustee of a trust to which chapter 11. See Washington Code 11.02.005
(a) That the trust exists and the date the trust instrument was executed;
(b) The identity of the trustor;
(c) The identity and address of the currently acting trustee;
(d) Relevant powers of the trustee;
(e) The revocability or irrevocability of the trust and the identity of any person holding a power to revoke the trust;
(f) The authority of cotrustees to sign or otherwise authenticate and whether all or less than all are required in order to exercise powers of the trustee; and
(g) The name of the trust or the titling of the trust property.
(2) A certification of trust may be signed or otherwise authenticated by any trustee or by an attorney for the trust.
(3) A certification of trust must state that the trust has not been revoked, modified, or amended in any manner that would cause the representations contained in the certification of trust to be incorrect.
(4) A certification of trust need not contain the dispositive terms of a trust.
(5) A recipient of a certification of trust may require the trustee to furnish copies of those excerpts from the original trust instrument and later amendments which designate the trustee and confer upon the trustee the power to act in the pending transaction or any other reasonable information.
(6) A person who acts in reliance upon a certification of trust without knowledge that the representations contained therein are incorrect is not liable to any person for so acting and may assume without inquiry the existence of the facts contained in the certification. Knowledge of the terms of the trust may 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 certification.
(7) A person who in good faith enters into a transaction in reliance upon a certification of trust may enforce the transaction against the trust property as if the representations contained in the certification were correct.
(8) A person making a demand for the trust instrument in addition to a certification of trust or excerpts is liable for damages, including reasonable attorney fees, if the court determines that the person did not act in good faith in demanding the trust instrument.
(9) This section does not limit the right of a person to obtain a copy of the trust instrument in a judicial proceeding concerning the trust.

NOTES:

ApplicationEffective date2011 c 327: See notes following RCW 11.103.020.