Illinois: Certification of Trust Requirements

Requirements one by one

Illinois requires eight listed facts, including amendability and the tax number

Under 760 ILCS 3/1013(a), a trustee may give a nonbeneficiary a certification
instead of the trust instrument. The certification must state the trust's existence
and execution date; the settlor; the acting trustee and address; trustee powers;
revocability; amendability; the holder of any revocation power; cotrustee authority;
the taxpayer identification number; and the manner of taking title.

Illinois expressly separates whether the trust is amendable or unamendable from
whether it is revocable or irrevocable. Subsection (c) also requires the statement
that no revocation, modification, or amendment makes the certification incorrect.

One or more trustees authenticate, and the recipient controls acknowledgment

Section 1013(b) requires one or more trustees to sign or otherwise authenticate the
certification. It does not require every trustee to sign, but it does require at least
one trustee rather than merely saying that any trustee may sign.

The same subsection lets the third party require acknowledgment. That makes
acknowledgment conditional on the recipient's demand, not a universal execution
formality. The statutory sample's notary block is marked “OPTIONAL.”

The statutory form is a safe model, not the only valid form

Section 1013(j) says a certification may be substantially in the displayed form and
expressly says a different form is not invalid or barred. The sample includes fields
for the required tax number and amendability status and also offers successor-trustee
fields beyond subsection (a)'s mandatory list.

Using a different layout does not remove the mandatory contents or the signer rule.
Likewise, an optional field in the sample does not become mandatory merely because it
appears there.

Dispositive terms stay private, subject to focused excerpts

Section 1013(d) says the certification need not contain dispositive terms. Subsection
(e) lets the recipient require excerpts from the original instrument and later
amendments that designate the trustee and confer power for the pending transaction.

That is a limited excerpt right, not a routine right to every trust provision.

Reliance and demand liability use distinct knowledge and good-faith rules

Section 1013(f) protects a person who relies without actual knowledge that the
certification is incorrect and permits that person to assume the stated facts without
inquiry. Possession of some or all of the trust instrument does not alone impute
knowledge.

Under subsection (g), a good-faith transaction is enforceable against trust property
as if the certification were correct. Subsection (h) creates damages liability when a
court finds a full-instrument demand lacked good faith, but it states no attorney-fee
award. It deems legally required examiners, trust fiduciaries, and the Attorney
General's Charitable Trust Bureau to act in good faith when demanding the instrument
and preserves separate charitable-trust disclosure duties.

What trips people up

• Amendability is its own required status. Reporting only revocable or
  irrevocable omits part of § 1013(a)(5).
• Acknowledgment is demand-dependent. The recipient may insist on it, but the
  statute and sample form do not make notarization automatic in every case.
• Bad-faith damages do not include an express fee award. Section 1013(h) says
  damages and supplies specific good-faith exceptions; it does not say attorney's
  fees.

Common questions

Must every Illinois trustee sign the certification?

No. Section 1013(b) requires one or more trustees to sign or otherwise authenticate.
The certification still must explain cotrustee authority under subsection (a)(6).

Must the certification disclose an SSN or EIN?

It must include the trust's taxpayer identification number under § 1013(a)(7). The
statutory sample labels that field “Tax Identification Number of trust (SSN or EIN).”

Must the statutory sample form be copied word for word?

No. Section 1013(j) permits a substantially similar form and says a different form is
not invalid or barred. Every mandatory statutory item still must be included.

Can the recipient obtain the full trust instrument?

Section 1013(e) permits focused trustee-designation and transaction-power excerpts.
The full instrument remains obtainable in a judicial proceeding under subsection (i),
and subsection (h) protects its demand in the specified legal-compliance, fiduciary,
and charitable-enforcement settings.

Statutes and sources

• 760 ILCS 3/1013(a)–(e) — required contents, one-or-more-trustee
  authentication, recipient-demanded acknowledgment, no-change statement, omitted
  dispositive terms, and permitted excerpts. Official Illinois General Assembly
  statute
  (accessed 2026-07-31).
• 760 ILCS 3/1013(f)–(i) — actual-knowledge reliance, good-faith enforcement,
  bad-faith demand damages and exceptions, and judicial-proceeding access. Official
  Illinois General Assembly statute
  (accessed 2026-07-31).
• 760 ILCS 3/1013(j) — optional statutory sample form and optional notary block.
  Official Illinois General Assembly statute
  (accessed 2026-07-31).