(a) Instead of furnishing a copy of the trust instrument to any person to evidence the existence and validity of the trust, the trustee may furnish to such person a certification of trust, signed by the trustee or trustees having signatory authority as identified in subdivision (a)(5) and attested by a notary public and shall contain the following:

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 35-15-1013

  • Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • Person: means an individual. See Tennessee Code 35-15-103
  • Settlor: means a person, including a testator, who creates, or contributes property to, a trust. See Tennessee Code 35-15-103
  • signed: includes a mark, the name being written near the mark and witnessed, or any other symbol or methodology executed or adopted by a party with intention to authenticate a writing or record, regardless of being witnessed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Trust instrument: means an instrument executed by the settlor that contains terms of the trust, including any amendments thereto. See Tennessee Code 35-15-103
  • Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
  • Trustee: includes an original, additional, and successor trustee, and a cotrustee. See Tennessee Code 35-15-103
(1) An affirmation of the current existence of the trust and the date on which the trust came into existence;
(2) The identity of the settlor or settlors, the currently acting trustee or trustees, and the named successor trustee or trustees of the trust or a statement that no successor is named;
(3) The administrative or managerial powers of the trustee, or both;
(4) The revocability or irrevocability of the trust and the identity of any person holding a power to revoke the trust;
(5) When there are multiple trustees or multiple successor 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) Where there are successor trustees designated, a statement detailing the conditions for their succession or a statement that a third party may rely on the authority of one (1) or more successors without proof of their succession;
(7) The trust’s identification number, whether a social security or an employer identification number, but only if the trust’s identification number is essential to the transaction for which the request for the trust document was made;
(8) The manner in which trust assets should properly be titled; and
(9) A statement that, to the best of the trustee’s knowledge, 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.
(b) The certification of trust shall not be required to contain the dispositive provisions of the trust that set forth the distribution of the trust estate.
(c) The trustee offering the certification of trust may provide copies of all or any part of the trust document and amendments, if any. Nothing in this section is intended to require or imply an obligation to provide dispositive provisions of the trust or a copy of the entire trust document and amendments.
(d) A person who acts in reliance on 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 on the trust certification. Nothing contained in this section shall limit the rights of the beneficiaries of the trust against the trustee. Any person relying on the certification of trust shall be indemnified from the assets of the trust to the extent of the share of the trust attributable to the beneficiary or beneficiaries bringing any action against the person for any costs, damage, attorney fees or other expenses incurred in defending any action against the person arising for the transaction to which a certification of trust related.
(e) A person’s failure to request a certification of trust does not affect the protections provided that person in this section. No inference that the person has not acted in good faith or that the person was negligent may be drawn from the failure of the person to request a certification of trust. Nothing in this section is intended to create an implication that a person is liable for acting in reliance on a certification of trust under circumstances where the requirements of this section are not satisfied.
(f) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require a third party, when presented with a trust certificate, to enter into a contract with a trustee relating to trust assets or obligations, or to preclude a third party from demanding as a precondition to any contract that the trustee provide additional information in order to clarify any ambiguities or inconsistencies in the trust certificate.
(g) 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.
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