Living-Trust Trustee Deed Requirements in Michigan

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Trust terms control broad, court-free power

MCL 700.7816 lets a trustee act without court authorization using powers conferred by the trust and, unless the trust limits them, the powers of an unmarried competent owner. The trustee also has powers appropriate for investment, management, and distribution. Those powers remain subject to fiduciary duties.

MCL 700.7817 expressly permits sale, exchange, partition, other disposition, in-kind or cash distribution, and execution and delivery of instruments. A special rule applies when the trustee performs the settlor's enforceable land-conveyance contract: if that contract requires a warranty, the trustee's deed must contain it, binding the trust but not the trustee outside fiduciary capacity. That does not make a warranty universal for every voluntary trustee sale or distribution.

Ordinary cotrustees use majority action

Michigan's default differs from states that require unanimity or a failed-unanimity step. MCL 700.7703(1) says cotrustees act by majority decision. A cotrustee generally must participate unless unavailable or properly delegated, and the urgent-action rule covers an unavailable trustee or one who fails or refuses to participate after notice.

A trustee-only power may be delegated to a cotrustee by agreement if notice goes to qualified trust beneficiaries within 28 days. A nonjoining trustee can obtain the statute's liability protection by timely written dissent, including when joining only to carry out the majority's decision.

Trust directors and separate trustees can reallocate the conveyance

Under MCL 700.7703a, the trust may grant a power of direction to a trust director. Joint directors act by majority. A directed trustee must comply with the director's exercise or nonexercise and ordinarily has no duty to monitor the director, but must not comply when the direction was obtained through the trustee's collusion or fraud and compliance would pursue it.

MCL 700.7703b permits an even more structural division into separate investment, distribution, and resultant trustees. Each acts independently within the function allocated by the trust. But for taking, holding, transferring, and defending title, the separate trustees are treated as cotrustees. A sale decision may be an allocated investment function while execution of title still requires applying that title rule.

While a trust is revocable, MCL 700.7808 also permits the trustee to follow a settlor direction contrary to the trust terms.

Conflicted sales are voidable unless an exception applies

An authorized arm's-length conveyance needs no routine court approval under MCL 700.7816. MCL 700.7802 separately makes a personal-account sale or other transaction affected by a substantial personal conflict voidable by an affected beneficiary.

The listed exceptions include trust authorization, court approval after notice, expiration of the claim period, beneficiary consent, ratification or release, a pre-trust contract or claim, and another statutory authorization. Transactions with specified relatives, agents, attorneys, or materially interested enterprises are presumed conflicted.

The trustee signs; witnesses and physical seals are unnecessary

MCL 565.1 calls for a deed signed by the person from whom the interest passes or a lawful agent. For trust property, that is the record-title trustee acting in fiduciary capacity. MCL 565.8's current execution text requires acknowledgment but no subscribing witness. Its reference to an old recorded deed lacking witnesses is a cure rule, not a new witness mandate.

Although MCL 565.1 still says “sealed,” MCL 565.241 makes an actual seal, scroll, the word “seal,” and “L.S.” unnecessary and treats the unsealed instrument as sealed. MCL 565.47 prevents the register of deeds from recording a deed that lacks the acknowledgment or proof required by Chapter 565.

Capacity wording must stay consistent through acknowledgment

The deed should name the record-title trustee as grantor and state that person's trustee capacity in the signature and acknowledgment. MCL 565.201 requires the executing name printed beneath the signature and bars a discrepancy between that name and the acknowledgment or jurat. It also requires the grantee address, the notary's printed name near the notary signature, and the drafter's name and business address.

Where the trust uses separate trustees, MCL 700.7703b's special title rule must be read with the allocation of sale authority. If a certificate is used, it identifies the trust, every operative-instrument date, and every current trustee and address.

A certificate is optional but has affidavit and land-description rules

MCL 700.7913 permits a certificate instead of furnishing the trust instrument to a nonbeneficiary. It must state the trust name and dates, all current trustees, powers relevant to the transaction, revocability and revocation holder, cotrustee authority, and the no-material-change representation. It must be an affidavit and may be signed or authenticated by the settlor, any trustee, or an attorney for either.

The recipient may require excerpts designating the trustee and conferring power for the pending transaction. If the certificate accompanies an instrument affecting realty under MCL 565.431, it must also include the legal description.

“May accompany” does not mean “must accompany”

MCL 565.431 says the trust conveyance may be accompanied by either the operative trust instrument or a certificate containing the land description. If one accompanies the deed, MCL 565.434 requires it to be recorded as a separate document. The statute does not impose a universal companion-document requirement on every trustee deed.

Record the deed with the register of deeds in the county where the land lies. MCL 565.201 supplies statewide recording content and format rules, including printed signer and notary names, grantee address, a 2½-inch first-page top margin, single recordable-event statement, 10-point type, and drafter name and business address.

Purchaser protection has trust and recording layers

Under MCL 700.7912, a nonbeneficiary who in good faith and for value deals with a trustee without knowledge of excess or improper exercise receives protection as if the power were properly exercised. A good-faith dealer has no duty to inquire into the extent or propriety of the trustee's powers.

MCL 700.7913 adds protection for certificate reliance and permits enforcement against trust property as if the representations were correct. A demand for the full trust instrument without a legal requirement can create damages, costs, expenses, and legal fees. Under MCL 565.435, reliance on a recorded certificate receives the same protection as a subsequent good-faith purchaser and generally requires no further trust-instrument examination unless an amendment or revocation is recorded in the same office.

Michigan's separate race-notice rule still matters. Under MCL 565.29, an unrecorded conveyance is void against a later purchaser in good faith for value whose conveyance is first duly recorded.

What trips people up

• Treating every trustee deed as a covenant deed. MCL 700.7817(d) requires a warranty when the trustee is performing a settlor contract that requires one; it does not prescribe that warranty for every trust sale or distribution.
• Requiring all cotrustees. The default is majority action, subject to the trust, delegation, trust-director, and separate-trustee rules.
• Calling a certificate mandatory. MCL 565.431 says the conveyance may be accompanied by one. If it accompanies the deed, it is recorded separately.
• Ignoring the affidavit and legal-description requirements. A Michigan certificate is an affidavit, and a realty certificate under MCL 565.431 includes the affected property's legal description.

Common questions

Do all Michigan cotrustees have to sign?

Not automatically. Ordinary cotrustees act by majority under MCL 700.7703, but the trust may alter powers, use a trust director, or divide duties among separate trustees. Separate trustees are treated as cotrustees for transferring title, so the trust's allocation and record title must be checked together.

Does the trustee need court approval?

Not for an ordinary authorized conveyance. MCL 700.7816 supplies court-free power. Court approval is one exception that can protect a substantially conflicted transaction under MCL 700.7802.

Must a certificate or trust agreement be attached to the deed?

MCL 565.431 says either document may accompany the deed. When one does, MCL 565.434 requires it to be separately recorded. A certificate used for this realty route includes the legal description and must satisfy MCL 700.7913's affidavit rule.

Are witnesses or a seal required?

No current subscribing-witness requirement appears in MCL 565.8, and MCL 565.241 makes a physical seal unnecessary. The deed must be acknowledged to be recorded.

Statutes and sources

• MCL 700.7105, 700.7816, and 700.7817 — trust-term control, court-free owner-level power, sale, distribution, instruments, and contract-required warranty. Official Michigan Legislature trustee-power statute (accessed 2026-08-13).
• MCL 700.7703, 700.7703a, 700.7703b, and 700.7808 — majority cotrustees, trust directions, separate trustees, and revocable-settlor direction. Official Michigan Legislature separate-trustee statute (accessed 2026-08-13).
• MCL 700.7802 — conflict and voidability rules. Official Michigan Legislature loyalty statute (accessed 2026-08-13).
• MCL 565.1, 565.8, 565.47, 565.201, and 565.241 — signature, acknowledgment, recording acceptance, statewide content, and no physical seal. Official Michigan Legislature recording-content statute (accessed 2026-08-13).
• MCL 700.7912–700.7913 and 565.431, 565.434–565.435 — no-inquiry protection, affidavit certificate, excerpts, optional realty accompaniment, separate recording, and recorded reliance. Official Michigan Legislature Act 133 (accessed 2026-08-13).
• MCL 565.29 — later good-faith purchaser and first-recording rule. Official Michigan Legislature priority statute (accessed 2026-08-13).