Certification of Trust Requirements in Rhode Island

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Rhode Island's substitute is limited to trust real estate

The current Title 18 fiduciaries index contains selected trust and fiduciary chapters but no general certification-of-trust chapter. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-4-27 instead provides an affidavit or memorandum of trust for transactions and recorded instruments pertaining to real property.

The document may be recorded with a trust's creation, amendment, restatement, or revocation. When trustees transfer or mortgage trust property, however, subsection (a) requires recording either the trust instrument as amended or restated or the affidavit or memorandum as the alternative.

Nine information groups are required

Section 34-4-27(a) requires the trust name, every settlor and original trustee, the original-instrument and amendment or restatement dates, and the current trustees.

It also requires whether trustees may act without beneficiary consent; their authority over conveyances, mortgages, leases, restrictions, easements, and other real-estate interests; whether the trust limits those powers; revocation or termination status and any power to convey property to carry it out; trustee replacement and successor appointment; termination timing and manner; revocability and the circumstances of irrevocability; and any applicable settlor death date and place.

The trustee-authority statement must have the relevant trust provisions attached. The statute does not list a taxpayer identification number, general situs, governing law, or ordinary title-taking phrase.

Execution uses one complete signer group

The affidavit or memorandum must be executed either by each settlor or by each current trustee. The statute therefore supplies two complete-group alternatives; it does not authorize one settlor, one trustee, or a mixture of selected members from both groups.

Section 34-4-27 itself states no oath, acknowledgment, witness, notary, or attorney authentication rule. Separate requirements for a particular recording or instrument are outside this section's express execution sentence.

Reliance and notice are narrower than the UTC model

Under § 34-4-27(b), a third party without actual knowledge to the contrary may rely on the validity of the statements in the affidavit or memorandum. The section does not add the ordinary UTC rules about assuming facts without inquiry, enforcing a transaction against all trust property, limited excerpt demands, or damages for a bad-faith demand for the full instrument.

Subsection (c) says an amendment or revocation of the trust or of its affidavit or memorandum must be recorded to constitute notice to third parties. That is an express notice rule tied to recording the later change.

What trips people up

• This is a real-property mechanism, not a general bank-or-title certification. The statute speaks to trust real estate and recorded instruments.
• Recording has different triggers. It is optional at creation, amendment, restatement, or revocation, but a trustee transfer or mortgage requires the trust instrument or the affidavit/memorandum to be recorded.
• The signer alternatives are all-or-all. Use every settlor or every current trustee, not one convenient signer.
• Relevant realty-power provisions must be attached. Rhode Island requires more authority text than the limited-excerpt privacy model used by UTC states.

Common questions

Must the affidavit list successor trustees by name?

Section 34-4-27(a)(7) requires the manner of replacement and appointment. It does not separately state that every possible successor's name and address must be listed.

Does the statute protect a third party who knows a statement is wrong?

No. Subsection (b)'s reliance protection applies only when the third party lacks actual knowledge to the contrary.

Does an unrecorded amendment give third parties statutory notice?

Not under § 34-4-27(c). The amendment or revocation must be recorded to constitute notice to third parties under this section.

Statutes and sources

• R.I. Gen. Laws tit. 18 index — current fiduciaries chapter structure and no comprehensive certification chapter. Rhode Island General Assembly (accessed 2026-07-31).
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-4-27(a)-(d) — real-property affidavit or memorandum, recording triggers, nine content groups, signer alternatives, relevant provision attachment, actual-knowledge reliance, and notice from recorded changes. Rhode Island General Assembly (accessed 2026-07-31).