Certification of Trust Requirements in Hawaii

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Hawaii requires seven information groups

Haw. Rev. Stat. § 554D-1013(a) lets a trustee furnish a person other than a beneficiary a certification instead of the trust instrument. The certification must state the trust's existence, execution date, and name; the settlor's identity; the current trustee's identity and address; trustee powers; revocability and any revocation-power holder; and cotrustee authority.

The seventh item is conditional. If an action is to be undertaken through an agent, the certification must state that the trust instrument does not prohibit delegating that action to an agent. The item does not impose an agent statement when no action is being taken through an agent.

Section 554D-1013(c) separately requires the statement that no revocation, modification, or amendment makes the certification's representations incorrect.

Any trustee may authenticate

Section 554D-1013(b) permits any trustee to sign or otherwise authenticate the certification. It does not require every cotrustee to execute it.

That rule is separate from subsection (a)(6), which requires disclosure of whether all or fewer cotrustees must act to exercise trust powers. The certification section states no oath, acknowledgment, witness, or notarization requirement.

Dispositive terms may stay private

Under § 554D-1013(d), the certification need not contain the trust's dispositive terms. Subsection (e) permits the recipient to require excerpts from the original instrument and later amendments that designate the trustee and confer power for the pending transaction.

The permitted request is limited to trustee designation and transaction authority; it is not automatic access to every trust provision.

Reliance and enforcement use different standards

Section 554D-1013(f) protects a person who relies without knowledge that the certification is wrong and permits assumption of the certified facts without inquiry. Holding all or part of the trust instrument does not alone establish knowledge of its terms.

Subsection (g) separately lets a person who enters a transaction in good faith enforce it against trust property as though the certification's representations were correct. Under subsection (h), a court-determined bad-faith demand for the trust instrument in addition to the certification or excerpts creates liability for damages. The text does not expressly add costs or attorney fees. Subsection (i) preserves access in a judicial proceeding concerning the trust.

The certification section states no recording effect

Section 554D-1013 does not name the Bureau of Conveyances, Land Court, a county office, or any other recorder for the certification. It gives the certification no stated notice, priority, public-record, conveyance, or other real-property effect. A deed or other transaction document may have separate recording requirements, but those are outside this certification rule.

What trips people up

• The agent statement is conditional. It applies when an action will be undertaken through an agent; it is not a universal field for every certification.
• Hawaii requires the trust's name but not its taxpayer number or title form. Those familiar fields from other states do not appear in § 554D-1013(a).
• One trustee may authenticate even if all cotrustees must transact. The signer rule and the underlying power-exercise rule answer different questions.
• Bad-faith demand liability is stated as damages. Subsection (h) does not expressly award costs or attorney fees.

Common questions

Must the certification identify the agent or describe the delegated power?

Section 554D-1013(a)(7) requires the no-prohibition statement when an action will be taken through an agent. It does not separately list the agent's name, address, or a detailed delegation schedule as universal certification fields.

Does possessing part of the trust instrument defeat reliance?

No. Section 554D-1013(f) says knowledge of the trust terms may not be inferred solely because the recipient holds all or part of the instrument.

Can the full instrument be obtained in a trust lawsuit?

Section 554D-1013(i) preserves the right to obtain a copy in a judicial proceeding concerning the trust.

Statutes and sources

• Haw. Rev. Stat. § 554D-1013(a)-(i) — availability, seven required information groups, conditional agent-delegation statement, any-trustee authentication, no-change statement, omitted dispositive terms, limited excerpts, reliance, enforcement, bad-faith-demand damages, and judicial access. Hawaii State Legislature (accessed 2026-07-31).