Delaware Certificate Download

Testamentary trusts; certification of by Register of Wills to Register in Chancery; record.

(a) When a will is probated before the Register of Wills for any of the counties of the State, containing a bequest or devise in trust to pay the income arising from any part of the estate of the testator to or for the benefit of a person other than the person named as trustee, the Register of Wills before whom the probate is made shall, within 10 days thereafter, deliver to the Register in Chancery for the Register's county a certificate setting forth the name and last address of the testator, the date of the probate of the testator's will, the name and address of the trustee appointed thereby and the provisions of the will relating to said trust or trusts.

(b) The Register in Chancery for the several counties shall keep a record in which shall be entered the names of the testators, the names and post-office addresses of the trustees, the dates of their appointment or the dates upon which their trusts become operative and the dates on which their accounts are passed and shall file the certificates delivered to them by the Register of Wills among the records of their offices. Title 12, Chap. 35, Subchap. III, §3538.

Subchapter VII. Liability of Trustees and Rights of Persons

Certification of trust. (a) Instead of providing a person other than a beneficiary with a copy of the trust instrument, a trustee may provide the person with a certification of trust containing statements concerning, but not limited to, the following matters:

(1) The existence of the trust and the date of execution of the trust instrument;

(2) The identity of the trustor or trustors and of the currently acting trustee or trustees of the trust;

(3) The powers of the trustee;

(4) The revocability or irrevocability of the trust and the identity of any person holding a power to revoke the trust;

(5) The authority of co-trustees to sign and whether all or less than all are required to sign in order to exercise powers of the trustee;

(6) The trust's taxpayer identification number; and

(7) The manner in which title to trust property may be taken.

(b) A certification of trust must be in the form of an acknowledged writing and may be signed by any trustee.

(c) A certification of trust must contain a statement that the trust has not been revoked, modified or amended in any manner that would cause the representations contained in the certification of trust to be incorrect.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 provide 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 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, including attorney's fees, if the court determines that the person did not act in
good faith in requesting 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. Title 12, Chap. 35, Subchap. VII, §3591.