Certification of Trust Requirements in Maryland

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Maryland makes the power disclosure transaction-specific

Maryland Code, Estates and Trusts § 14.5-910(a) lets a trustee furnish a certification instead of the trust instrument to a person other than a beneficiary. The mandatory list includes the trust's existence and execution date, settlor identity, the acting trustee's identity and address, revocability, cotrustee authority, the title format, and—unlike a general powers summary—“the powers of the trustee in the pending transaction.”

Section 14.5-910(c) adds a required statement that the trust has not been revoked, modified, or amended in a way that makes the certification's representations incorrect.

The TIN rule has a settlor-SSN privacy exception

Section 14.5-910(a)(7) requires the trust's taxpayer identification number unless that number is also the Social Security number of a settlor. When the exception applies, the statute does not require the settlor's SSN to appear in the certification.

The same content list does not require a trust situs, governing-law statement, successor-trustee identity, or real-property legal description.

One trustee may authenticate without a statutory notary ceremony

Section 14.5-910(b) says a certification may be signed or otherwise authenticated by “a trustee.” The separate cotrustee content rule explains whether all or fewer cotrustees must authenticate to exercise trust powers; it does not make every cotrustee sign this certification.

The certification section does not prescribe an oath, acknowledgment, witness, or notarial act. A separate transaction request should not be restated as a universal certification formality.

Dispositive terms may stay private, subject to targeted excerpts

Under § 14.5-910(d), the certification need not contain the trust's dispositive terms. Subsection (e) lets the recipient require excerpts from the trust and later amendments that designate the trustee and confer the power needed for the pending transaction. That is a limited excerpt right rather than an automatic right to the entire instrument.

Both reliance and enforcement require reasonableness

Section 14.5-910(f) protects a person that acts reasonably in reliance without knowledge that the certification is wrong. Unlike some UTC formulations, the Maryland text does not add a general right to assume every stated fact without inquiry.

Subsection (g) allows enforcement against trust property when the person enters the transaction while “acting reasonably under the circumstances.” The statute does not use a separate good-faith formulation or create damages for demanding the full trust instrument.

Title insurance creates a narrow full-instrument exception

Section 14.5-910(h) preserves judicial access to the trust instrument. It also lets a title insurance producer or title insurer obtain the full instrument for one stated purpose: determining whether a settlor's real-property interest may face creditor claims when the trustee is selling, encumbering, or disposing of the property and title insurance has been requested.

What trips people up

• Do not disclose a settlor's SSN merely because it is the trust's TIN. Maryland's express exception removes that number from the mandatory certification content.
• The powers statement is transaction-specific. It should identify powers relevant to the pending transaction rather than recite every general trustee power.
• One trustee may authenticate. The certification section does not require all cotrustees or notarization.
• The title-insurance exception is not a general recipient right. It is tied to a real-property disposition, requested title insurance, and the narrow creditor-claims inquiry stated in subsection (h)(2).

Common questions

Must the certification include the trust's TIN?

Usually, but not when the trust's TIN is also a settlor's Social Security number. Section 14.5-910(a)(7) expressly excludes that number from the mandatory list.

Does every cotrustee have to sign?

No. Section 14.5-910(b) permits a trustee to sign or otherwise authenticate the certification. The document still must report the trust's cotrustee authentication rule for exercising trustee powers.

Can the recipient require trust excerpts?

Yes. Section 14.5-910(e) permits excerpts designating the trustee and conferring the power needed for the pending transaction.

Is there a bad-faith-demand damages remedy?

No such remedy appears in § 14.5-910. The section instead preserves judicial access and the narrow title-insurance full-instrument right in subsection (h).

Statutes and sources

• Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 14.5-910(a)-(h) — availability, mandatory contents, settlor-SSN exception, one-trustee authentication, omitted dispositive terms, limited excerpts, reasonable reliance and enforcement, judicial access, and the title-insurance exception. Maryland General Assembly (accessed 2026-07-31).