Connecticut General Statutes 45a-499zzz – Certification of trust
(a) Instead of furnishing a copy of the trust instrument to a person other than a beneficiary or, in the case of a charitable trust, the Attorney General’s office, the trustee may furnish to the person a certification of trust containing the following information: (1) That the trust exists and the date the trust instrument was executed; (2) the identity of the settlor; (3) the identity and address of the currently acting trustee; (4) the powers of the trustee; (5) the revocability or irrevocability of the trust and the identity of any person holding a power to revoke the trust; (6) the authority of cotrustees to sign or otherwise authenticate and whether all or less than all are required in order to exercise powers of the trustee; (7) the trust’s taxpayer identification number; and (8) the manner of taking title to trust property.
Terms Used In Connecticut General Statutes 45a-499zzz
- Charitable trust: means a trust, or part of a trust, created (A) for a charitable purpose described in §. See Connecticut General Statutes 45a-499c
- Court: means a court of this state having jurisdiction over the matter pursuant to sections 45a-499o and 45a-499p or a court of another state having jurisdiction under the law of the other state. See Connecticut General Statutes 45a-499c
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Person: means an individual, corporation, statutory or business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, court, government, governmental subdivision, agency or instrumentality, public corporation or any other legal or commercial entity. See Connecticut General Statutes 45a-499c
- Property: means anything that may be the subject of ownership, whether real or personal and whether legal or equitable, or any interest therein. See Connecticut General Statutes 45a-499c
- Settlor: means a person, including a testator, that creates or contributes property to a trust. See Connecticut General Statutes 45a-499c
- State: means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, and includes an Indian tribe or band recognized by federal law or formally acknowledged by a state. See Connecticut General Statutes 45a-499c
- Terms of a trust: means :
(A) Except as otherwise provided in subparagraph (B) of this subdivision, the manifestation of the settlor's intent regarding a trust's provisions as:
(i) Expressed in the trust instrument. See Connecticut General Statutes 45a-499c
- Trust instrument: means any instrument executed by the settlor, including a will establishing or creating a testamentary trust, that contains terms of the trust, including any amendments thereto. See Connecticut General Statutes 45a-499c
- Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
- Trustee: includes an original, additional and successor trustee and a cotrustee. See Connecticut General Statutes 45a-499c
(b) A certification of trust may be signed or otherwise authenticated by any trustee.
(c) A certification of trust shall state that the trust has not been revoked, modified or amended in any manner that would cause the representations contained in the certification of trust to be incorrect.
(d) A certification of trust need not contain the dispositive terms of a trust.
(e) A recipient of a certification of trust may require the trustee to furnish copies of those excerpts from the original trust instrument and later amendments which designate the trustee and confer upon the trustee the power to act in the pending transaction.
(f) A person who acts in reliance upon a certification of trust without knowledge that the representations contained in the certification are incorrect is not liable to any person for so acting and may assume without inquiry the existence of the facts contained in the certification. Knowledge of the terms of the trust may not be inferred solely from the fact that a copy of all or part of the trust instrument is held by the person relying upon the certification.
(g) A person who in good faith enters into a transaction in reliance upon a certification of trust may enforce the transaction against the trust property as if the representations contained in the certification were correct.
(h) A person making a demand for the trust instrument in addition to a certification of trust or excerpts is liable for damages, including legal fees and costs, if the court determines that the person did not act in good faith in demanding the trust instrument.
(i) This section does not limit the right of a person to obtain a copy of the trust instrument in a judicial proceeding concerning the trust and does not limit the right of the Attorney General to notice under subsection (d) of § 45a-499rrr.