Certification of Trust Requirements in Montana
At a glance
| Governing law and availability | Mont. Code Ann. § 72-38-1013; general certification of trust authorized |
|---|---|
| Permitted use and recipient | Trustee may furnish a person other than a beneficiary a certification instead of the trust instrument (§ 72-38-1013(1)) |
| Trust identity and party contents | Must state trust existence/execution date, settlor identity, and current trustee identity + address (§ 72-38-1013(1)(a)-(c)) |
| Authority, status, and title contents | Must state relevant trustee powers, revocability/revoker, cotrustee authority, and no change making representations incorrect; no title-manner field (§ 72-38-1013(1)(d)-(f), (3)) |
| State-specific required contents | If Montana law does not govern, must identify governing state; certification does not consent to that state's jurisdiction/law; no TIN or successor field (§ 72-38-1013(1)(g), (10)) |
| Signer, authentication, and acknowledgment | Any trustee may authenticate; on request trustee must acknowledge so certification may be recorded; no universal oath, witness, notary, or all-trustee rule (§ 72-38-1013(2)) |
| Dispositive terms and permitted excerpts | Dispositive terms may be omitted; recipient may require excerpts designating trustee and conferring pending-transaction power (§ 72-38-1013(4)-(5)) |
| Reliance, enforcement, and improper demands | No-knowledge reliance + fact assumption; good-faith transaction enforceable; bad-faith full-instrument demand yields damages; legal/judicial disclosure preserved (§ 72-38-1013(6)-(9)) |
| Recording and real-property effect | On request trustee must acknowledge so certification may be recorded; § 72-38-1013 names no recorder and states no notice, priority, conveyance, or other real-property effect |
Requirements one by one
Montana requires seven information groups
Mont. Code Ann. § 72-38-1013(1) lets a trustee furnish a certification to a person other than a beneficiary instead of the trust instrument. The certification must state the trust's existence and execution date, settlor identity, current trustee identity and address, relevant trustee powers, revocability and any revocation-power holder, and cotrustee authority.
The seventh item applies only when the trust is governed by another state's law. In that event, subsection (1)(g) requires the certification to identify that state. Section 72-38-1013(10) says receiving the certification does not itself amount to consent to any state's jurisdiction or application of its laws.
Subsection (3) separately requires the statement that no revocation, modification, or amendment makes the certification's representations incorrect.
Any trustee authenticates; acknowledgment is request-driven
Section 72-38-1013(2) permits any trustee to sign or otherwise authenticate the certification. It does not require every cotrustee to execute it.
The same subsection says that, upon request, the trustee must acknowledge the certification so it may be recorded. Acknowledgment is therefore conditional rather than a universal execution requirement. The certification section states no separate oath, witness, or all-trustee rule.
Dispositive terms may stay private
Under § 72-38-1013(4), the certification need not contain dispositive terms. Subsection (5) 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 focused on trustee status and transaction authority; it is not automatic access to every trust provision.
Reliance and enforcement use different standards
Section 72-38-1013(6) protects a person who relies without knowledge that the certification is wrong and permits assumption of its facts without inquiry. Holding all or part of the trust instrument does not alone establish knowledge of its terms.
Subsection (7) separately allows a person who enters the transaction in good faith to enforce it against trust property as though the certification's representations were correct. A court-determined bad-faith demand for the trust instrument in addition to the certification or excerpts produces damages under subsection (8). Subsection (9) preserves disclosure required by law and access in a judicial proceeding concerning the trust.
Recordability does not state a recording effect
Section 72-38-1013(2) requires requested acknowledgment so the certification may be recorded, but the section does not name a recorder or limit the rule to real property. It also does not say recording creates constructive notice, priority, public-record status, conveyance power, or a transfer. Those effects, if any, depend on separate law and the transaction.
What trips people up
- The governing-law field is conditional. It is required only when Montana law does not govern, and receiving the certification is not jurisdictional consent.
- Montana asks for relevant powers. The certification need not reproduce every general trustee power when only some concern the pending matter.
- Acknowledgment follows a request. It is not a universal condition for every certification, though the trustee must provide it on request so recording is possible.
- The section states no recording consequence. Recordability alone does not establish notice, priority, or transfer effect.
Common questions
Must the certification disclose the trust's TIN?
No. The seven-item list in § 72-38-1013(1) does not include a taxpayer identification number.
Must it state how title to trust property is taken?
Not under this certification section. Title manner is not among Montana's seven listed information groups.
Can the full instrument be obtained when another law requires it?
Yes. Section 72-38-1013(9) preserves the right to obtain a copy when law requires it or in a judicial proceeding concerning the trust.
Statutes and sources
- Mont. Code Ann. § 72-38-1013(1)-(10) — availability, seven required information groups, conditional foreign governing-law disclosure, any-trustee authentication, requested acknowledgment, privacy and excerpts, reliance, enforcement, bad-faith-demand damages, legal and judicial disclosure, and no-consent rule. Montana Legislature (accessed 2026-07-31).
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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