Certification of Trust Requirements in Minnesota

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Minnesota uses a six-item certificate plus a broad representation

Minnesota Statutes § 501C.1013, subdivision 1, permits a settlor or trustee to execute a certificate after the trust is executed or created. The certificate may set out fewer than all provisions, but it must include the trust name if one exists, the instrument date, every currently empowered trustee's name and address, specified power information, the number of trustees required to act, and whether the trust has terminated or the instrument has been revoked.

The declarant must also represent that the statements are true and correct and that no undisclosed trust provision or amendment limits the property powers or other powers identified in the certificate.

The powers disclosure has two statutory routes

Subdivision 1(4) allows either the statute's quoted broad statement about authority to sell, convey, pledge, mortgage, lease, or transfer title—together with any limitations—or information about the trustee powers relevant to the purpose for which the certificate is offered.

This is an alternative, not a direction to attach a schedule of every default trustee power. The certificate separately states the number of trustees required to act.

The signer swears under oath; electronic execution starts August 1

The settlor or trustee signing the certificate must do so under oath before a notary public or another official authorized to administer oaths. Minnesota therefore requires a sworn execution, not merely an unsworn signature or acknowledgment.

At 12:01 a.m. on August 1, 2026, chapter 533 will apply to a certification under § 501C.1013. An electronic certificate and signature may not be denied effect solely because of their form, and an electronic oath can satisfy the requirement when the authorized official associates the official's electronic signature and the other required information with the document. The new law expressly excludes the underlying deed of real property from its definition.

Real-property use adds names and exact authority language

Subdivision 2 requires a real-property certificate to name every settlor and every original trustee. It also requires the statutory statement that the trustees are authorized to sell, convey, pledge, mortgage, lease, or transfer title to real property, followed by any limitation or an indication that none exists.

Those added contents are tied to real-property use. The general certificate list does not require a taxpayer identification number, governing-law statement, settlor birth date, successor-trustee list, or property inventory.

Recording changes the certificate's evidentiary effect

A subdivision 2 certificate may be recorded with a county recorder or, for registered land described in the certificate or an attachment, with the registrar of titles. When recorded in a county where the real property lies, it documents the stated trust, trustee, power, limitation, and other matters as though the full trust instrument had been recorded.

For personal property, presentation to a third party produces the parallel statutory effect. Until amendment, revocation, or presentation or recording of the full instrument, the certificate is prima facie proof and parties may rely on its continued effectiveness.

Actual notice controls later amendment or revocation

Under subdivision 5, a certificate may be amended or revoked only by a written instrument executed by a settlor or trustee. The change is not effective against a party without actual notice.

For real property, actual notice can arise from receipt of the written instrument or from recording an amendment or revocation that contains the property's legal description. Transactions entered in reliance on the earlier certificate remain unaffected by a later amendment or revocation.

What trips people up

• The signer need not be a trustee. A settlor may execute the certificate, but every currently empowered trustee still must be identified.
• Real-property contents are additive. Each settlor, each original trustee, and the required land-authority statement join the ordinary six-item list.
• The oath is mandatory. A bare signature or ordinary acknowledgment does not restate subdivision 1's under-oath requirement.
• There is no bad-faith-demand remedy in § 501C.1013. Minnesota instead supplies prima-facie proof, continued reliance, and actual-notice rules.

Common questions

Must the certificate disclose every beneficiary and distribution term?

No universal disclosure of those items appears in § 501C.1013. Subdivision 1 permits the certificate to set out fewer than all trust provisions while requiring the listed contents and representations.

Does a later revocation undo an earlier transaction?

No. Subdivision 4 says a later revocation or amendment does not affect transactions entered into in reliance on the prior certificate.

Does the August 1 electronic law make an electronic deed valid too?

No. Chapter 533 includes a certification under § 501C.1013 but expressly excludes a deed of real property from the covered document definition.

Statutes and sources

• Minn. Stat. § 501C.1013, subds. 1-6 — general and real-property contents, settlor-or-trustee sworn execution, recording, full-instrument-equivalent and prima-facie effect, actual notice, and third-party reliance. Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes (accessed 2026-07-31).
• 2026 Minn. Laws ch. 45 §§ 2, 5, 7, 9; Minn. Stat. § 645.02 — coverage of electronic trust certifications, electronic signatures and oaths, the deed exclusion, and the August 1, 2026 effective date. Enacted chapter and effective-date statute (accessed 2026-07-31).