Certification of Trust Requirements in Arizona

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Arizona requires seven fact groups and a no-change statement

Under A.R.S. § 14-11013(A), the trustee may give a person other than a beneficiary a certification instead of the trust instrument. It must state the trust's existence and execution date, settlor identity, current trustee identity and address, trustee powers, revocability and any revocation-power holder, cotrustee authority, and the manner of taking title.

Subsection (C) adds the statement that no revocation, modification, or amendment makes the certification's representations incorrect. The section does not list a tax identification number, governing law, or situs as a required item.

Any trustee may authenticate

Section 14-11013(B) permits any trustee to sign or otherwise authenticate the certification. It does not require every cotrustee to execute it.

That signer rule is separate from subsection (A)(6), which requires disclosure of cotrustee authority and whether all or fewer trustees must exercise trust powers. The section states no separate oath, acknowledgment, witness, or notarization form.

Some excerpt demands require a verified reasonable-basis statement

Section 14-11013(D) says the certification need not contain dispositive terms. Under subsection (E), a recipient acting in good faith may require excerpts that designate the trustee and confer power for the pending transaction.

Arizona adds a second limit. A person cannot require excerpts containing dispositive terms or provisions about named successor trustees unless the person first gives the trustee a verified statement stating a reasonable basis for the request.

Reliance uses actual knowledge, and improper demands carry broad remedies

Under § 14-11013(F), a person relying without actual knowledge that the certification is incorrect is protected from liability and may assume its facts without inquiry. Possession by the relying person—or its employees, if it acts through employees—does not alone establish actual knowledge of the trust terms.

Subsection (G) makes a good-faith transaction enforceable against trust property. Subsection (H) imposes damages, costs, expenses, and attorney fees when the court finds that a demand for the instrument or excerpts lacked good faith or failed to comply with subsection (E). Subsection (I) preserves judicial access.

The certification section states no recording effect

Section 14-11013 requires the manner of taking title as a certification fact, but it does not itself authorize or require recording or assign a recorded certification any notice, priority, conveyance, or other real-property effect. Separate transaction documents may follow other statutes.

What trips people up

• The excerpt rule is conditional. The recipient must act in good faith, and a request reaching dispositive or named-successor provisions needs a verified reasonable-basis statement first.
• Actual knowledge is the reliance standard. Possession of the trust instrument by an organization or its employees does not by itself supply that knowledge.
• The demand remedy is broader than damages alone. Subsection (H) expressly adds costs, expenses, and attorney fees.

Common questions

May one trustee authenticate when the trust has cotrustees?

Yes. Section 14-11013(B) permits any trustee to authenticate, although subsection (A)(6) still requires the certification to describe cotrustee authority.

Can the recipient request a named-successor-trustee provision?

Only after first providing a verified statement that states a reasonable basis for the request, as subsection (E) requires.

Can the complete instrument be obtained in court?

Potentially. Subsection (I) preserves the right to obtain the trust instrument or excerpts in a judicial proceeding concerning them.

Statutes and sources

• A.R.S. § 14-11013(A)–(E) — required contents, any-trustee authentication, no-change statement, omitted dispositive terms, and the verified- statement excerpt rule. Official Arizona Revised Statutes (accessed 2026-07-31).
• A.R.S. § 14-11013(F)–(I) — actual-knowledge reliance, good-faith enforceability, damages, costs, expenses, attorney fees, and judicial access. Official Arizona Revised Statutes (accessed 2026-07-31).