Minnesota: Certification of Trust Requirements

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terminated or the instrument has been revoked.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).