Michigan: Certification of Trust Requirements
The short answer
Michigan lets a trustee give a nonbeneficiary a certificate of trust instead of the trust instrument, and it requires the trust name, trust and operative-instrument dates, every current trustee's name and address, purpose-specific powers, revocability, cotrustee authority, and a no-change statement. The certificate must be an affidavit and may be authenticated by the settlor, any trustee, or an attorney for either; settlor identity, a tax number, and a title-taking statement are not required by § 700.7913. Targeted excerpts may be demanded, reliance is protected, an unauthorized full-instrument demand may produce damages, costs, expenses, and legal fees, and a real-property certificate follows separate legal-description, recording, and recorded-reliance rules.
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This is the general rule in Michigan. Ezel applies current Michigan law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law and availability | MCL 700.7913; general certificate of trust authorized; real-property layer in MCL 565.431, .434–.435 |
|---|---|
| Permitted use and recipient | Trustee may furnish to a person other than a trust beneficiary instead of the trust instrument (§ 700.7913(1)) |
| Trust identity and party contents | Must state trust name, trust date, each operative-instrument date, and each current trustee name + address; settlor identity not required (§ 700.7913(1)(a)–(b)) |
| Authority, status, and title contents | Must state purpose-specific trustee powers, revocability/revoker, cotrustee authority, and no-change representation; no title-manner item (§ 700.7913(1)(c)–(e), (3)) |
| State-specific required contents | Certificate accompanying real-property instrument must include legal description; no taxpayer-number item (§ 565.431(b)) |
| Signer, authentication, and acknowledgment | Settlor, any trustee, or attorney for either may authenticate; certificate must be an affidavit; no separate witness rule in § 700.7913(2) |
| Dispositive terms and permitted excerpts | Dispositive terms not required; recipient may demand excerpts from each instrument designating trustee and conferring pending-transaction power (§ 700.7913(4)–(5)) |
| Reliance, enforcement, and improper demands | No-knowledge protection + fact assumption; good-faith transaction enforceable; demand without legal requirement creates damages, costs, expenses + legal fees; judicial access preserved (§ 700.7913(6)–(9)) |
| Recording and real-property effect | Realty certificate may record in each affected-land county and separately if accompanying conveyance; recorded reliance gets subsequent-good-faith-purchaser protection, subject to recorded amendment/revocation (§§ 565.434–.435) |
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Requirements one by one
Michigan uses a purpose-specific certificate with its own content list
Under MCL 700.7913(1), a trustee may give a nonbeneficiary a certificate of
trust instead of the trust instrument. The certificate must state the trust's name,
the trust date, the date of each operative trust instrument, and the name and
address of every current trustee.
It also must describe trustee powers related to the purpose for which the certificate
is offered, not merely recite every possible trust power. The remaining required
items are revocability and the holder of any revocation power, cotrustee authority,
and the subsection (3) statement that no revocation, modification, or amendment
makes the representations incorrect.
Section 700.7913 does not list settlor identity, a taxpayer identification number, or
a manner-of-title statement among the required contents.
The signer class is broad, but affidavit form is mandatory
Section 700.7913(2) permits authentication by the settlor, any trustee, or an
attorney for the settlor or trustee. This differs from statutes that limit execution to
one or more trustees.
The same subsection says the certificate “must be in the form of an affidavit.” The
certificate section states no separate witness requirement. Transaction or recording
practice may require additional execution details, but it cannot erase the statutory
affidavit requirement.
Excerpts and demand liability use Michigan-specific language
Section 700.7913(4) says the certificate need not include dispositive terms.
Subsection (5) lets the recipient require excerpts from each operative trust
instrument that designate the trustee and confer power for the pending transaction.
Under subsection (6), a person who relies without knowledge that the certificate is
incorrect is protected from liability and may assume the trust's existence and other
stated facts without inquiry. Subsection (7) makes a good-faith transaction
enforceable against trust property.
Michigan's demand rule does not use the ordinary bad-faith formula. Subsection (8)
creates liability for damages, costs, expenses, and legal fees when the court finds
the demand was not made pursuant to a legal requirement to demand the trust
instrument. Judicial access remains available under subsection (9).
Real-property use adds a legal description and separate recording effects
MCL 565.431(b) allows a certificate to accompany an instrument conveying,
encumbering, or otherwise affecting real property if the certificate includes the
affected property's legal description.
Under MCL 565.434, that certificate and later amendments or revocations may be
recorded in each county where affected land lies. When the certificate accompanies
the real-property instrument, it must be recorded as a separate document.
MCL 565.435 gives a purchaser or other party relying on a recorded certificate the
same protection provided to a subsequent good-faith purchaser under MCL 565.29.
The person need not examine the trust instrument further unless an amendment or
revocation is recorded in the same office.
What trips people up
- An acknowledgment block is not a substitute for addressing affidavit form.
Section 700.7913(2) expressly requires the certificate to be an affidavit. - The trustee-powers disclosure is purpose-specific. The certificate should state
powers related to why it is being offered rather than treating a generic power list
as the statutory answer. - Real-property recording adds a mandatory data item. A certificate accompanying
the land instrument must include the affected property's legal description.
Common questions
May the settlor or an attorney sign the certificate?
Yes. MCL 700.7913(2) authorizes the settlor, any trustee, or an attorney for the
settlor or trustee to sign or otherwise authenticate it.
Must the certificate identify the settlor or include a tax number?
Not under § 700.7913. Its required content list includes the trust name and every
current trustee, but not settlor identity or a taxpayer identification number.
What can the recipient demand besides the certificate?
Section 700.7913(5) permits excerpts from each trust instrument that designate the
trustee and confer power for the pending transaction. A full-instrument demand must
rest on a legal requirement to avoid subsection (8)'s liability rule.
Does recording affect reliance?
Yes. MCL 565.435 gives a person relying on a recorded certificate the stated
good-faith-purchaser protection and generally removes the need to examine the trust
instrument further, subject to an amendment or revocation recorded in the same office.
Statutes and sources
- MCL 700.7913(1)–(5) — required contents, authorized affidavit signers,
no-change statement, omitted dispositive terms, and permitted excerpts. Official
Michigan Legislature Act 386 PDF
(accessed 2026-07-31). - MCL 700.7913(6)–(9) — knowledge-based reliance, good-faith enforcement,
damages, costs, expenses, legal fees, and judicial access. Official Michigan
Legislature Act 386 PDF
(accessed 2026-07-31). - MCL 565.431(b), 565.434–565.435 — real-property legal description,
county recording, separate-document rule, and recorded reliance protection.
Official Michigan Legislature Act 133 PDF
(accessed 2026-07-31).
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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