Certification of Trust Requirements in New York

At a glance

What a New York trustee actually faces

Most states answer this survey's question with a single statute. A trustee hands over a one-page certificate, the recipient is protected by law if it relies on that certificate, and demanding the whole trust instrument can expose the recipient to damages. New York has none of that machinery.

EPTL article 7 is New York's trust article. Its current index runs through eight parts covering trust creation, trustees, the rights of purchasers and creditors, bank accounts in trust form, transfers to minors, child-performer accounts, and pet trusts. No section in it authorizes a certification, certificate, affidavit, abstract, or memorandum of trust, and no section supplies reliance protection to someone who accepts one. New York has not adopted the Uniform Trust Code, whose § 1013 is the source of the certification rule in most other states.

So what happens in practice is a negotiation, not a statutory procedure. A bank, broker, title company, or transfer agent decides for itself what it will accept before it lets a trustee act. Some accept a trustee's certificate or affidavit on their own form. Many ask to see the trust instrument, or the signature and successor-trustee pages of it. Because no statute makes such a document sufficient, and no statute penalizes asking for more, a third party that wants the whole instrument may insist on it.

Two consequences follow that are easy to miss. First, a document titled "Certification of Trust" is still perfectly lawful to sign in New York — it is simply a private representation whose force comes from contract and from the ordinary law of misrepresentation, not from a statute that commands acceptance. Second, its acceptance cannot be assumed in advance. Ask the institution what it requires before drafting anything.

The two statutory trustee certifications, and what they are not

New York's only statutory trustee certifications sit in EPTL article 13-A, the digital assets article, added by chapter 354 of the Laws of 2016. They govern a narrow situation: a trustee who is not the original user of an online account asks the account custodian to hand over what is in it.

Under EPTL § 13-A-3.6, when the trustee wants the content of electronic communications, the trustee must give the custodian a written request, "a copy of the trust instrument that includes consent to disclosure of the content of electronic communications to the trustee," and "a certification by the trustee, under penalty of perjury, that the trust exists and the trustee is a currently acting trustee of the trust." EPTL § 13-A-3.7 covers everything else — a catalogue of communications and other digital assets — and requires the same written request and perjury certification plus "a copy of the trust instrument," without the added consent language.

These provisions run in the opposite direction from a certification statute. A certification statute lets a trustee supply a short document instead of the trust instrument. Sections 13-A-3.6 and 13-A-3.7 require the trust instrument and a sworn statement on top of it. The certification they describe carries exactly one representation — the trust exists and this person is a currently acting trustee. It says nothing about the trustee's powers, whether the trust is revocable, who may revoke, whether cotrustees must act together, or how title is taken.

Their reach is also confined to account custodians. Neither section gives a bank considering a wire transfer, a title company insuring a sale, or a lender any duty to accept anything.

What trips people up

• "No statute" does not mean "no document." A New York certification of trust is a private instrument. It can be well drafted and widely accepted. What it cannot do is compel acceptance or trigger statutory protection, because no New York statute attaches either consequence to it.
• Beware forms that import other states' law. Many certification-of-trust forms marketed for New York recite Uniform Trust Code language — that a relying party is not liable, may assume the certified facts without inquiry, and may enforce the transaction against trust property. Those are quotations from a statute New York has not enacted. A recital in a private form does not create the protection it describes.
• There is no recording route. No New York statute authorizes recording a certification of trust or gives a recorded one any notice, priority, or title effect. Advice to record one for a real-property transaction does not come from New York statute.
• A demand for the full instrument carries no penalty here. In states with a certification statute, demanding the trust instrument in bad faith can mean damages. New York has no such rule, which is a large part of why New York institutions ask for the instrument more often.
• The digital-asset certification is not a general-purpose one. Signing the § 13-A-3.6 or § 13-A-3.7 certification does not establish trustee authority for any other transaction, and using it outside a custodian request accomplishes nothing.

Common questions

A bank asked for my entire trust instrument. Can I refuse and give a certificate instead?

You can offer one, but the bank does not have to take it. Without a certification statute, the bank sets its own documentary requirements. If confidentiality of the dispositive terms matters to you, raise it with the institution early — some will accept a redacted instrument or specific pages — and get the answer before the closing or transfer is scheduled.

Has New York tried to enact a certification-of-trust statute?

A comprehensive New York Trust Code, drafted as a new EPTL article 7-A and modeled on the Uniform Trust Code, has been proposed repeatedly since 2017 and would include a certification section. It has been introduced and referred to committee without passing, and no version has become law. The current EPTL article 7 index reflects that: there is no article 7-A and no certification section.

Does a New York certification of trust need to be notarized?

No statute requires it, because no statute governs the document. Institutions frequently ask for acknowledgment before a notary as a condition of accepting the document, so treat notarization as a practical requirement set by the recipient rather than a legal one. The one statutory certification, under EPTL §§ 13-A-3.6 and 13-A-3.7, is made under penalty of perjury and does not call for a notary.

Statutes and sources

• N.Y. Est. Powers & Trusts Law art. 7 — the complete current index of New York's trust article, showing parts 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 8 and no certification, certificate, affidavit, abstract, or memorandum-of-trust section. New York State Senate, NYS Open Legislation (accessed 2026-08-16).
• N.Y. Est. Powers & Trusts Law § 13-A-3.6 — the trustee's perjury certification for the content of electronic communications, required alongside a copy of the trust instrument that consents to disclosure. Text as enacted by chapter 354 of the Laws of 2016. New York State Assembly bill archive, S7604-A (accessed 2026-08-16).
• N.Y. Est. Powers & Trusts Law § 13-A-3.7 — the parallel perjury certification for a catalogue of communications and other digital assets, required alongside a copy of the trust instrument. Text as enacted by chapter 354 of the Laws of 2016. New York State Assembly bill archive, S7604-A (accessed 2026-08-16).
• Or. Rev. Stat. § 130.860 (UTC 1013) — comparative official text identifying the Uniform Trust Code certification provision discussed above. Oregon Legislative Assembly (accessed 2026-08-16).