Michigan Certificate of Trust Example: Required Contents and Signing

A Certificate of Trust in Michigan is a short affidavit a trustee uses in place of the full trust agreement, and MCL 700.7913 sets out exactly what it must contain: the trust’s name and the dates of the original instrument and any amendments, the name and address of each currently acting trustee, the trustee powers relevant to the transaction at hand, whether the trust is revocable or irrevocable and who holds any power to revoke, and, if there is more than one trustee, whether all cotrustees must act together or fewer than all can act. The certificate must also affirm that the trust has not been revoked, modified, or amended in a way that would make its representations incorrect.¹

What Must Be in the Certificate

The statute lists five categories. Missing any one of them gives a third party a reason to reject the document.

Trust Name and Dates

State the trust’s exact legal name as it appears in the original agreement, the date the trust was created, and the date of each operative instrument, including amendments.¹ If the trust has been renamed through an amendment, reference both the original and the current names so a title search or account record can be reconciled.

Name and Address of Each Current Trustee

List every trustee currently serving. If a successor has stepped in because the original trustee died or became incapacitated, the successor is the current trustee for this purpose. You do not need to narrate how the transition happened; you just need to identify who holds the role now.¹

Trustee Powers Relevant to the Transaction

Rather than reciting every power the trust grants, describe only the powers that relate to the specific transaction.¹ Selling real estate calls for language confirming authority to sell, convey, and execute deeds. Opening or managing a bank account calls for language confirming authority over financial accounts.

Include any restriction on the trustee’s authority that affects the pending transaction, such as a requirement that beneficiaries consent to sales above a set dollar amount. Omitting a known limitation can expose the trustee personally if the transaction is later challenged.

Revocability and Who Holds the Power to Revoke

State whether the trust is revocable or irrevocable, and identify anyone who holds the power to revoke.¹ A revocable trust typically becomes irrevocable when the grantor dies; if that shift has occurred, the certificate should say so.

Cotrustee Signing Rules

When more than one trustee serves, the certificate must say whether all cotrustees have to sign off or whether fewer than all can exercise the trust’s powers.¹ Banks lean on this line to decide whether one cotrustee can sign checks alone. If the certificate says one cotrustee can act independently but the trust actually requires unanimous action, transactions relying on the certificate can be unwound later.

The Required Affirmation

Alongside the five items above, the certificate must include a statement that the trust has not been revoked, modified, or amended in any way that would make the certificate’s representations incorrect.¹ It is a statutory requirement, not an optional recital. Leaving it out gives a third party a legitimate reason to send the certificate back.

How It Must Be Signed

The document must be in the form of an affidavit, so the signer swears or affirms that the contents are true.¹ A false statement in an affidavit can carry consequences under Michigan law.

Signers can include the settlor, any trustee, or an attorney for the settlor or trustee.¹ Attorney execution can help when a trustee is unavailable or when the institution receiving the certificate wants extra assurance of accuracy.

Notarization

The statute does not explicitly require notarization. Because the certificate has to be an affidavit, however, notarization is the standard way to administer the oath, and virtually every bank and title company will expect it. A notary confirms the signer personally appeared and was positively identified.² For real estate, notarization is effectively mandatory because county registers of deeds require it on recorded documents.

Electronic Signatures

Under Michigan’s Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, a signature cannot be denied legal effect solely because it is electronic, provided both parties have agreed to transact electronically.³ Many financial institutions and title companies still require wet-ink signatures on trust documents, so confirm the format with the receiving institution before you sign electronically.

Extra Requirements for Real Estate

When the certificate accompanies a deed or other real property instrument, a separate statute, MCL 565.431, requires the certificate to include the legal description of the affected property.⁴ That obligation is on top of what MCL 700.7913 calls for, and missing it can stall a closing.

The certificate is recorded as its own document with the register of deeds in the county where the property sits; it does not simply attach to the deed. A purchaser or other party who relies on the information in a recorded certificate has the same legal protection as a good-faith subsequent purchaser and is not required to examine the underlying trust instrument unless an amendment or revocation has been recorded in the same office.⁵

What Stays Out

The certificate does not need to include the dispositive terms of the trust.¹ Beneficiary names, shares, distribution timing, conditions on distributions, and any disinheritance provisions belong in the trust agreement, not in the certificate. Keeping those provisions out is the whole reason to use a certificate.

A third party can, however, ask for copies of specific excerpts from the trust that name the trustee and grant the powers relevant to the pending transaction.¹ That right is narrow. If you receive the request, provide the pages that confirm your identity and authority and nothing more. Anything the certificate contains could also end up in front of people outside the trust relationship, and in real estate transactions it becomes part of the public record through recording, so keep the drafting to what the statute requires and what the transaction demands.

If a Bank or Title Company Demands the Full Trust

The statute protects both sides of the transaction. A person who acts in reliance on a certificate of trust without knowing its representations are incorrect is not liable to anyone for doing so and can assume the trust exists as described. Someone who enters a transaction in good faith based on the certificate can enforce it against the trust property even if the certificate turns out to have been inaccurate.¹

Subsection 8 goes further and gives trustees direct leverage. A person who demands the full trust instrument on top of a certificate can be held liable for damages, costs, expenses, and legal fees if a court decides they had no legal requirement to make the demand. Cite that provision when an institution insists on seeing the full agreement; most back off once the exposure is on the table. The statute preserves the right of any person to obtain a copy of the trust instrument through a judicial proceeding concerning the trust, but that is a court process, not something a bank employee can insist on at the counter.¹

When to Replace the Certificate

The certificate is a snapshot. Replace it when circumstances change: a new trustee takes over, the trust becomes irrevocable after the grantor’s death, an amendment alters trustee powers, or the trust’s name changes. The replacement should state that it supersedes any prior version.

If the original was recorded for a real estate matter, record the amendment or replacement with the same register of deeds office so the public record reflects the current state of the trust.⁵ The recording statute’s good-faith protections turn on whether an amendment or revocation has been recorded in the same office, so failing to update the record can leave future buyers relying on outdated information.

1
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 700.7913 – Certificate of Trust
2
Michigan Department of State. Acknowledgements
3
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code MCL 450.837 – Record or Signature in Electronic Form; Legal Effect; Enforcement
4
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code MCL 565.431 – Instrument Affecting Interest in Real Property Executed Pursuant to Express Trust
5
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws Act 133 of 1991 – Recording Trust Instrument or Certificate of Trust