Certification of Trust Requirements in Wisconsin

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Wisconsin requires seven listed information groups

Wisconsin Statutes § 701.1013(1) authorizes a trustee to furnish a certification instead of the trust instrument to a person other than a beneficiary. The document must state the trust's existence and execution date, settlor identity, the acting trustee's identity and address, trustee powers, revocability and the identity of any revocation-power holder, cotrustee authentication authority, and the manner in which title to trust property may be taken.

Subsection (3) separately requires the trustee to state that the trust has not been revoked, modified, or amended in a way that makes the certification's representations incorrect. The statute does not add a taxpayer identification number, situs, governing-law statement, trust-director field, or real-property legal description to that mandatory list.

Any trustee may authenticate the certification

Section 701.1013(2) says the document “may be signed or otherwise authenticated by any trustee.” That is different from the content item describing whether all or fewer cotrustees must authenticate to exercise the trustee's underlying powers.

The certification section does not require an oath, acknowledgment, witnesses, or a notarial act. A formality attached to a separate conveyance or institutional request should not be recast as a universal certification requirement.

Dispositive terms may stay private, with a narrow excerpt right

Under § 701.1013(4), the certification does not need to contain the trust's dispositive terms. Subsection (5) nevertheless lets the recipient require excerpts from the original instrument and later amendments that do two things: designate the trustee and confer power to act in the pending transaction.

That wording does not create a general right to every provision touching trustee powers, every fact about the transaction, or the entire trust instrument.

Reliance and enforcement use different statutory standards

Section 701.1013(6) protects a person that relies without knowledge that the certification is wrong and permits that person to assume the certified facts without inquiry. Possessing all or part of the trust instrument does not, by itself, impute knowledge of its terms.

Subsection (7) separately requires good faith for transaction enforcement. A person who enters a transaction in good-faith reliance may enforce it against the trust property as though the certified representations were correct.

A bad-faith excess demand carries four express remedies

Section 701.1013(8) addresses a demand for trust-instrument copies or excerpts beyond the subsection (5) excerpts in addition to the certification. If a court finds that the demand was not made in good faith, the demanding person is liable for “costs, expenses, reasonable attorney fees, and damages.”

The remedy is tied to the court's good-faith finding. Subsection (9) separately preserves the right to obtain the trust instrument in a judicial proceeding concerning the trust.

What trips people up

• The signer rule and the cotrustee-power rule answer different questions. Any trustee may authenticate the certification, even though the certification must say how many cotrustees are needed to exercise trust powers.
• No TIN is required by this section. Wisconsin's seven-item list does not include a taxpayer identification number or a settlor's Social Security number.
• The excerpt right is transaction-specific. It reaches provisions designating the trustee and conferring the power needed for the pending transaction, not every trust provision a recipient would prefer to review.
• No recording effect appears in § 701.1013. The certification section does not say that recording is required, transfers title, or creates constructive notice.

Common questions

Does a certification itself create or validate the trust?

No. Section 701.1013 governs the information furnished to a third party and the consequences of reliance. It does not replace the separate law governing creation or validity of the trust.

Does this substitute-document rule govern disclosures to a beneficiary?

No. Subsection (1) specifically authorizes the certification in place of the trust instrument when the recipient is a person other than a beneficiary.

Can the full instrument still be obtained during a trust lawsuit?

Yes. Section 701.1013(9) preserves the right to obtain it in a judicial proceeding concerning the trust.

Statutes and sources

• Wis. Stat. § 701.1013(1)-(9) — availability, seven required information groups, any-trustee authentication, the no-inaccuracy statement, omitted dispositive terms, limited excerpts, reliance, enforcement, bad-faith-demand remedies, and judicial access. Wisconsin State Legislature (accessed 2026-07-31).