Depending on how complicated and how large of an estate you wish to draft into a living trust, the document itself could end up being quite a physically large document. And who wants to carry around a heavy document or go through the hassle of producing a copy of a rather large document to third parties? Therefore, under California law, a certificate of trust is an option granted to settlors who might be inconvenienced by having to provide the entire trust document.
One good advantage of using a certificate of trust is that it does not divulge the distribution specifics of the entire document. This further solidifies the privacy of a trust that one would have been after initially. And Probate Code Sec. 18100.5(d) ensures that by restricting any requirement that the certificate of trust contain information on the trust distributions.
Most attorneys provide this certificate when creating your trust so that it can be used when you begin funding assets into the trust, like a bank account. Providing this to third parties just makes the process a little bit easier. And if they refuse to accept the certificate of proof, they can be held liable for damages and fees under Probate Code Sec. 18100.5(h).
Please contact a professional Trust Attorney in the Los Angeles area to begin your private family estate litigation process.
*This blog entry was not written by an Attorney and should not be constituted as professional legal advice.