Arizona: Certification of Trust Requirements

Requirements one by one

Arizona requires seven fact groups and a no-change statement

Under A.R.S. § 14-11013(A), the trustee may give a person other than a
beneficiary a certification instead of the trust instrument. It must state the trust's
existence and execution date, settlor identity, current trustee identity and address,
trustee powers, revocability and any revocation-power holder, cotrustee authority, and
the manner of taking title.

Subsection (C) adds the statement that no revocation, modification, or amendment
makes the certification's representations incorrect. The section does not list a tax
identification number, governing law, or situs as a required item.

Any trustee may authenticate

Section 14-11013(B) permits any trustee to sign or otherwise authenticate the
certification. It does not require every cotrustee to execute it.

That signer rule is separate from subsection (A)(6), which requires disclosure of
cotrustee authority and whether all or fewer trustees must exercise trust powers. The
section states no separate oath, acknowledgment, witness, or notarization form.

Some excerpt demands require a verified reasonable-basis statement

Section 14-11013(D) says the certification need not contain dispositive terms. Under
subsection (E), a recipient acting in good faith may require excerpts that designate
the trustee and confer power for the pending transaction.

Arizona adds a second limit. A person cannot require excerpts containing dispositive
terms or provisions about named successor trustees unless the person first gives the
trustee a verified statement stating a reasonable basis for the request.

Reliance uses actual knowledge, and improper demands carry broad remedies

Under § 14-11013(F), a person relying without actual knowledge that the certification
is incorrect is protected from liability and may assume its facts without inquiry.
Possession by the relying person—or its employees, if it acts through employees—does
not alone establish actual knowledge of the trust terms.

Subsection (G) makes a good-faith transaction enforceable against trust property.
Subsection (H) imposes damages, costs, expenses, and attorney fees when the court
finds that a demand for the instrument or excerpts lacked good faith or failed to
comply with subsection (E). Subsection (I) preserves judicial access.

The certification section states no recording effect

Section 14-11013 requires the manner of taking title as a certification fact, but it
does not itself authorize or require recording or assign a recorded certification any
notice, priority, conveyance, or other real-property effect. Separate transaction
documents may follow other statutes.

What trips people up

• The excerpt rule is conditional. The recipient must act in good faith, and a
  request reaching dispositive or named-successor provisions needs a verified
  reasonable-basis statement first.
• Actual knowledge is the reliance standard. Possession of the trust instrument
  by an organization or its employees does not by itself supply that knowledge.
• The demand remedy is broader than damages alone. Subsection (H) expressly
  adds costs, expenses, and attorney fees.

Common questions

May one trustee authenticate when the trust has cotrustees?

Yes. Section 14-11013(B) permits any trustee to authenticate, although subsection
(A)(6) still requires the certification to describe cotrustee authority.

Can the recipient request a named-successor-trustee provision?

Only after first providing a verified statement that states a reasonable basis for the
request, as subsection (E) requires.

Can the complete instrument be obtained in court?

Potentially. Subsection (I) preserves the right to obtain the trust instrument or
excerpts in a judicial proceeding concerning them.

Statutes and sources

• A.R.S. § 14-11013(A)–(E) — required contents, any-trustee
  authentication, no-change statement, omitted dispositive terms, and the verified-
  statement excerpt rule. Official Arizona Revised Statutes
  (accessed 2026-07-31).
• A.R.S. § 14-11013(F)–(I) — actual-knowledge reliance, good-faith
  enforceability, damages, costs, expenses, attorney fees, and judicial access.
  Official Arizona Revised Statutes
  (accessed 2026-07-31).