North Carolina: Certification of Trust Requirements

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).