Certification of Trust Requirements in North Carolina

At a glance

Requirements one by one

North Carolina requires eight items but allows a settlor-identity opt-out

Under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 36C-10-1013(a), a trustee may give a nonbeneficiary a certification instead of the trust instrument. It generally must state the trust's existence and execution date; settlor; acting trustee and address; trustee powers; revocability and the holder of any revocation power; cotrustee authority; taxpayer identification number; and the manner of taking title.

North Carolina's settlor rule has an express exception. Subsection (a)(2) permits the settlor's identity to be withheld when a provision in the trust instrument authorizes that result. Subsection (c) separately requires the statement that no revocation, modification, or amendment makes the certification incorrect.

Any trustee authenticates generally; real-property acknowledgment is conditional

Section 36C-10-1013(b) allows any trustee to sign or otherwise authenticate the certification. It does not require every cotrustee to sign merely because the certification must describe cotrustee authority.

Subsection (j) adds a narrower real-property rule. In a transaction involving real property, the person relying on the certification may require it to be executed and acknowledged in a form that permits registration with the register of deeds in the county where the property is located. The statute does not make acknowledgment a universal condition for every certification.

The Social Security number exception is tied to the real-property rule

The general content list requires the trust's taxpayer identification number. Within the real-property subsection, however, the certification may omit that number when it is also a grantor's Social Security number.

Omission does not eliminate disclosure to the relying person. Subsection (j) requires the trustee to certify the tax number to that person in a manner reasonably satisfactory to the person. The statute does not extend this document-omission rule to every non-real-property certification.

Excerpts and reliance follow the uniform pattern

Section 36C-10-1013(d) says the certification need not contain dispositive terms. Subsection (e) lets the recipient require excerpts designating the trustee and conferring power for the pending transaction.

Under subsection (f), a person who relies without knowledge that the certification is incorrect is protected from liability and may assume the stated facts without inquiry. Holding some or all of the trust instrument does not alone impute knowledge.

Subsection (g) makes a good-faith transaction enforceable against trust property as if the certification were correct. Subsection (h) creates damages liability when a court finds a full-instrument demand lacked good faith, but it states no court-cost or attorney-fee award. Judicial access to the instrument remains available under subsection (i).

What trips people up

• The tax-number privacy exception is not the general rule. It appears in the real-property transaction subsection and still requires separate certification to the relying person.
• Acknowledgment depends on both context and demand. A real-property recipient may require registerable form; subsection (j) does not automatically notarize every certification.
• Settlor identity can be withheld only when the trust says so. It is not a free- standing election by the trustee.

Common questions

May one trustee sign when several trustees serve?

Yes. Section 36C-10-1013(b) says any trustee may sign or otherwise authenticate. The document still must state how many cotrustees are needed to exercise trust powers.

Can the certification leave out a grantor's Social Security number?

In a real-property transaction, subsection (j) permits omission when the trust's tax ID is also a grantor's SSN, but the trustee must separately certify that number to the relying person in a reasonably satisfactory manner.

Must the certification actually be registered for a real-estate transaction?

Section 36C-10-1013(j) says the relying person may require execution and acknowledgment in a form that permits registration. It does not itself command that the certification be registered or state a notice effect from registration.

Can the recipient demand the full trust instrument?

The statute permits focused trustee-designation and transaction-power excerpts. A bad-faith demand for the full instrument can create damages, while a judicial proceeding concerning the trust remains an express route to the complete instrument.

Statutes and sources

• N.C. Gen. Stat. § 36C-10-1013(a)–(e) — required contents, settlor- identity exception, any-trustee authentication, no-change statement, omitted dispositive terms, and permitted excerpts. Official North Carolina General Assembly statute (accessed 2026-07-31).
• N.C. Gen. Stat. § 36C-10-1013(f)–(j) — reliance, enforcement, demand damages, judicial access, real-property acknowledgment, registration form, and the grantor-SSN exception. Official North Carolina General Assembly statute (accessed 2026-07-31).