Virginia Code 64.2-804: Certification of trust
A. Instead of furnishing a copy of the trust instrument to a person other than a beneficiary, the trustee may furnish to the person a certification of trust containing the following information:
Terms Used In Virginia Code 64.2-804
- Court: means the court of the Commonwealth having jurisdiction in matters related to trusts. See Virginia Code 64.2-701
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Person: means an individual; estate; business or nonprofit entity; government; governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality; public corporation; or other legal entity. See Virginia Code 64.2-701
- Property: means anything that may be the subject of ownership, whether real or personal, legal or equitable, or any interest therein. See Virginia Code 64.2-701
- Settlor: except as otherwise provided in § 64. See Virginia Code 64.2-701
- Sign: means , with present intent to authenticate or adopt a record, (i) to execute or adopt a tangible symbol or (ii) to attach to or logically associate with the record an electronic symbol, sound, or process. See Virginia Code 64.2-701
- 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. See Virginia Code 64.2-701
- Terms of a trust: means :
1. See Virginia Code 64.2-701
- Trust instrument: means a record executed by the settlor to create a trust or by any person to create a second trust that contains some or all of the terms of the trust, including any amendments. See Virginia Code 64.2-701
- Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
- Trustee: includes an original, additional, and successor trustee and a cotrustee. See Virginia Code 64.2-701
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.
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 that 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 therein 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 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.