Living-Trust Trustee Deed Requirements in Washington

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Washington supplies express transaction powers

RCW 11.98.070 gives a trustee, or trustees jointly, discretionary power to sell, convey, exchange, divide, partition, encumber, and manage trust property under the trust and governing standards. It separately permits sale on credit, real-property development and boundary work, in-kind and nonpro rata distributions, and winding- up distributions.

Cotrustee action depends on the number and the chosen route

For three or more trustees, RCW 11.98.016 permits majority exercise. Its majority rule does not turn two cotrustees into a one-person majority. A nonjoining trustee is generally not liable for the exercise, and a trustee who joins at the majority's direction can protect a written dissent delivered at or before joinder.

The section also permits a signed written delegation with the other cotrustee's consent. A separate written-proposal route treats silence as formal approval if no written objection arrives within 15 days after actual receipt, unless a cotrustee previously disabled that route by unrevoked written notice.

A trust director may hold conveyance control

Chapter 11.98B RCW permits a power of direction in a trust director. Joint directors use majority action unless the trust says otherwise. The directed trustee takes reasonable action to comply but must refuse to the extent compliance would be willful misconduct and may seek superior-court instructions when reasonably uncertain.

Unless the trust changes the rule, the trustee does not monitor the director or warn others that the trustee might have acted differently. The trust may apply similar directed-trust relief between cotrustees.

Conflicted sales are voidable subject to listed exceptions

RCW 11.98.078 makes a personal-account or otherwise conflicted sale, encumbrance, or management transaction voidable. The exceptions include trust authorization, court or compliant nonjudicial binding-agreement approval, expiration of the claim period, beneficiary consent, ratification or release, and a pre-trustee contract or claim. Specified related-party transactions carry a rebuttable conflict presumption.

Acknowledgment is part of deed execution

RCW 64.04.020 requires every deed to be written, signed, and acknowledged. The statute does not add subscribing witnesses, and RCW 64.04.010 refers to witness and seal exemptions without creating a deed witness or seal mandate. RCW 65.08.070 also makes certified acknowledgment the gateway to recording.

Trustee capacity matters in the signature

The record-title trustee should be named as grantor and sign in that capacity. RCW 11.98.110 states a concrete contract consequence: adding “trustee” or “as trustee” after the signature excludes trustee personal liability on the contract. A certification, if used, identifies the current trustee and the trust name or titling of trust property.

Certification is optional and can support broader reasonable requests

RCW 11.98.075 says the trustee may give a certification instead of the trust instrument. Its seven subjects cover the trust, trustor, current trustee, relevant powers, revocability, cotrustee authority, and trust name or property titling.

Any trustee or the trust's attorney may authenticate it. The recipient may request the targeted trustee-and-power excerpts or other reasonable information. The section provides reliance and enforcement protection and damages, including reasonable attorney fees, for a bad-faith full-instrument demand. It states no certification-specific notary or recording requirement.

Record with the county auditor

RCW 65.08.070 places recording with the county recording officer where the land is situated. RCW 65.04.045 supplies statewide first-page margins, return address, document title, party names, abbreviated legal description, parcel number, and privacy rules. The surveyed statutes do not universally require a certification, trust instrument, director paper, or court order to accompany the deed.

Reliance and race-notice protection solve different problems

RCW 11.98.105 protects a good-faith value dealer without knowledge of improper power exercise and eliminates a general inquiry duty. RCW 11.98.075 adds certification-based protection and makes a good-faith certified transaction enforceable against trust property.

RCW 65.08.070 supplies race-notice priority. An unrecorded conveyance loses to a later purchaser or mortgagee who takes in good faith for value and records first.

What trips people up

Washington's cotrustee rule has more than one path. Three-or-more majority action, two-trustee joint action, written delegation, 15-day silence-as-approval, survival after a vacancy, and directed-trust allocation are different rules. A packet that simply demands every current trustee or accepts one signature without identifying the route can be wrong in either direction.

Certification also remains separate from deed execution. It can prove selected authority facts and support reliance, but it does not replace acknowledgment, recording, or the cotrustee/director decision required by the trust and statutes.

Common questions

Can two Washington cotrustees use majority action?

Not under the majority sentence, which applies when a power is vested in three or more trustees. Two cotrustees may instead use the trust terms, joint action, a valid written delegation, or the statutory 15-day proposal route.

Are deed witnesses required?

No. Washington requires the deed to be written, signed, and acknowledged. The cited statewide deed statute does not require attesting witnesses.

Must the certification be recorded?

The cited certification statute says no. It authorizes furnishing a certification to a nonbeneficiary and supplies reliance rules, but no universal recording step.

Does a trustee always need court approval?

No. Ordinary authorized conveyances use the statutory powers without a general preapproval requirement. Court or nonjudicial approval can matter for conflicts, instructions, or disputed authority.

Statutes and sources

• RCW 11.98.016, .070, .075, .078, .105, and .110 — cotrustees, powers, conflicts, certification, capacity, and third-party protection. Official Revised Code of Washington, accessed 2026-08-13.
• RCW 11.98B.050, .080, .100, and .110 — trust directors and directed trustees. Official Revised Code of Washington, accessed 2026-08-13.
• RCW 64.04.010 and .020 — deed, writing, signature, acknowledgment, witnesses, and seals. Official Revised Code of Washington, accessed 2026-08-13.
• RCW 65.04.045 and 65.08.070 — recording content, county office, and race-notice priority. Official Revised Code of Washington, accessed 2026-08-13.