Tennessee: Certification of Trust Requirements

Requirements one by one

Tennessee uses a mandatory nine-part certification

Tennessee Code Annotated § 35-15-1013(a) lets a trustee furnish a certification
to any person instead of the trust instrument to evidence the trust's existence and
validity. Unlike a statute with an optional fact list, subsection (a) says the
certification “shall contain” all nine listed content groups.

The certification must affirm the trust's present existence and date, identify the
settlor, acting trustees, and named successor trustees, describe trustee powers and
revocability, explain current and successor signature authority, state how trust assets
should be titled, and confirm to the trustee's best knowledge that no change makes the
certification inaccurate.

Successor-trustee facts and the trust ID receive special treatment

Section 35-15-1013(a)(2) requires the named successor trustee or trustees to be
identified, or a statement that none is named. If successors are designated,
subdivision (a)(6) also requires either their succession conditions or a statement that
a third party may rely on one or more successors without proof of succession.

The trust's Social Security number or employer identification number is not an
automatic field. Subdivision (a)(7) requires it only when the number is “essential to
the transaction” that produced the request for the trust document.

Only trustees with the described signatory authority execute the certification

The opening sentence of § 35-15-1013(a) requires signature by the trustee or trustees
having the signatory authority identified under subdivision (a)(5). It also requires
the certification to be “attested by a notary public.” The rule therefore turns on the
authority stated in the certification; it does not impose an all-acting-trustees
signature rule in every trust.

Privacy does not create a categorical acceptance duty

Under § 35-15-1013(b), the certification need not contain the trust's dispositive
provisions—the terms distributing the trust estate. Subsection (c) lets the trustee
voluntarily provide all or part of the trust and amendments, while saying the section
does not require the dispositive provisions or the entire instrument.

That privacy rule does not force a recipient to close a transaction. Section
35-15-1013(f) says a third party need not contract with the trustee and may require
additional information as a precondition when needed to clarify ambiguities or
inconsistencies in the certification. Subsection (g) separately preserves access to
the trust instrument in a judicial proceeding concerning the trust.

Reliance uses an actual-knowledge standard and adds beneficiary-share indemnity

Section 35-15-1013(d) protects a person who relies without actual knowledge that the
certification is wrong and permits that person to assume the certified facts without
inquiry. Possessing some or all of the trust instrument does not by itself create
actual knowledge.

The same subsection preserves beneficiaries' rights against the trustee. It also
indemnifies a relying person from trust assets, limited to the trust share attributable
to the beneficiary or beneficiaries bringing the action, for defense costs, damage,
attorney fees, and other expenses arising from the certification-related transaction.

What trips people up

• Named successors are part of the mandatory content. Tennessee requires either
  their identities or a statement that none is named, plus succession conditions or a
  permitted reliance statement when successors are designated.
• The trust ID is conditional. It belongs in the certification only when essential
  to the transaction for which the trust document was requested.
• Notarization does not mean every acting trustee must sign. The statute requires
  the trustee or trustees with the signatory authority described under subsection
  (a)(5), followed by notarial attestation.
• The statute supplies no certification-specific recording rule. Section
  35-15-1013 does not say that recording is required or optional, name a recording
  office, or assign a real-property notice effect.

Common questions

Must the certification include the trust's SSN or EIN?

Only when the number is essential to the transaction that led to the request. Section
35-15-1013(a)(7) does not make it a universal field.

Can the recipient demand the complete trust instrument?

The certification statute does not require the trustee to provide the entire
instrument or its dispositive provisions. But § 35-15-1013(f) allows a prospective
contracting party to demand additional information needed to clarify ambiguities or
inconsistencies, and subsection (g) preserves disclosure through a trust-related
judicial proceeding.

Does every currently acting trustee have to sign?

Not automatically. Section 35-15-1013(a) requires signature by the trustee or trustees
having the signatory authority identified in the certification's cotrustee-authority
statement.

Does Tennessee require notarization?

Yes. The opening sentence of § 35-15-1013(a) requires the signed certification to be
attested by a notary public.

Statutes and sources

• Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-1013(a)-(g) — availability, mandatory contents,
  authorized-trustee signatures, notarial attestation, omitted dispositive terms,
  actual-knowledge reliance, indemnity, clarifying-information demands, and judicial
  access. Official public-domain Tennessee Code release-76 Title 35
  mirror
  (accessed 2026-07-31).