How to Fill Out the Bank of America Certificate of Trust Form

The Bank of America Certificate of Trust form is a short, notarized document that proves your authority to act on trust assets without giving the bank the entire trust agreement. You fill it in with the trust’s core details, every current trustee signs it in front of a notary, and you submit it at a financial center or by mail so the bank can update its records and let you open accounts, transfer securities, or otherwise transact on the trust’s behalf.

What to Gather Before You Sit Down With the Form

Pull out the original trust instrument and any amendments first. You will copy several items directly from those pages, and getting them wrong is the most common reason a form gets sent back.

The legal name of the trust, exactly as it appears on the trust instrument.
The date the trust was created. If the trust was established by an agreement, use the date the agreement was signed; if it was created by a will, you will need the decedent’s name instead.
The name of every grantor who funded or established the trust.
The state whose laws govern the trust.
Whether the trust is revocable or irrevocable. The designation usually appears near the beginning of the trust document. A revocable trust lets the grantor change or cancel it; an irrevocable trust generally cannot be modified once created. The bank classifies the account differently for tax reporting depending on the answer.
Names, addresses, phone numbers, and countries of residency for every currently serving trustee.
The tax identification number. A revocable living trust where the grantor is alive and serving as trustee typically uses the grantor’s Social Security number. An irrevocable trust, or a revocable trust that has become irrevocable after the grantor’s death, needs its own Employer Identification Number from the IRS.¹

One boundary worth knowing before you start: the form is built for revocable and irrevocable trusts that hold cash or securities accounts. It is not meant for employee benefit trusts, nominee arrangements, business trusts, or trusts whose beneficiaries are for-profit entities.²

Where to Get the Form

The simplest route is to walk into any Bank of America financial center and ask a banker for the trustee certification form.³ Because the form must be notarized and many branches offer free notary services, picking it up in person can turn signing and notarizing into one visit. Call the branch first to confirm a notary will be there.⁴ For Merrill investment accounts (a Bank of America subsidiary), the same trustee certification form is available as a downloadable PDF through Merrill’s platform.²

Filling Out the Form Section by Section

The form runs through roughly a dozen numbered sections. Here is what each block asks for.

Trust Identity and Structure (Sections 1–5)

Section 1 asks for the trust’s full legal name. Section 2 asks for the governing state law. Section 3 branches by how the trust was created: for a testamentary trust, provide the decedent’s name; for a trust agreement, provide the date of the agreement and the grantor’s name. Section 4 is the revocable-or-irrevocable checkbox. Section 5 is a checkbox for special needs or supplemental needs trusts. Leave it blank if it does not apply.²

Trustees and Co-Trustee Authority (Sections 6–7)

Section 6 lists every current trustee by name, address, phone number, and country of residency. If an entity such as a corporate trustee is serving, you will also need a corporate resolution or certificate of incumbency identifying the authorized individuals.

Section 7 matters only when the trust has more than one trustee. All co-trustees initial this section to authorize the remaining trustees to keep acting if one co-trustee dies, is removed, or becomes incapacitated. Completing it up front avoids filing a whole new certification each time a co-trustee change occurs.²

Powers and Authorizations (Sections 8–11)

Sections 8 through 11 define what the trustees can do with the account. Section 8 covers distribution and transfer authority, confirming that trustees can move funds by check, debit card, credit card, or account-to-account transfer. Section 9 addresses investment powers, including buying and selling securities. Section 10 applies only to revocable trusts where the grantor is a current trustee and deals with margin transactions and options trading; initial the line that matches the level of activity your trust document authorizes. Section 11 applies if you are delegating investment authority to an advisor or agent under a power of attorney, and you will need to attach the signed power of attorney.²

Do not initial any authority the trust document does not actually grant. The form represents your powers to the bank, and overstating them creates real legal exposure.

Representations and Signatures (Sections 12–16)

The closing sections contain representations, warranties, indemnification language, and tax identification requirements. Read them. By signing, you certify that everything in the form is accurate and agree to notify the bank if the trust is amended or revoked, or if trustees change. Every currently serving trustee must sign.² Each signature should match the name on that trustee’s government-issued ID; mismatches are a frequent reason the bank returns forms.

Notarization

Bank of America requires the completed form to be notarized.³ All trustees sign in front of the notary. Do not sign ahead and then bring the form in. The notary checks each signer’s government-issued photo ID and applies the seal. Many financial centers provide notary services at no charge, though availability varies by branch, so make an appointment.⁴

If trustees live in different states and cannot appear before the same notary, each can sign and notarize separately. Confirm the arrangement with the branch first, since some offices want all notarizations on the same document while others accept separate signature pages.

How to Submit It

The fastest submission is in person. Hand the notarized form to your relationship manager or a banker at a financial center and they can upload it to the bank’s imaging system on the spot. You can also mail it to the trust or estate processing center address the bank provides. Send copies rather than originals, because documents submitted by mail are not returned.⁵

Review typically takes about two business days after the bank has everything it needs. More involved situations, such as multiple trustees, unusual trust structures, or large-value transfers, can take up to five business days.³ The bank confirms through online banking messages or mail once account records are updated.

If You Are Stepping in as Successor Trustee

If the original trustee dies or becomes incapacitated and you are named as successor in the trust document, you will need to file a new certification form even if Section 7 of the earlier form authorized remaining co-trustees to continue. A successor trustee is a different person entering the role, not a continuation.

Along with the new certification, the bank will generally require a certified copy of the death certificate and may ask for the trust agreement, a birth or marriage certificate, or proof of a legal name change. Exact requirements depend on the account, so contact the bank early to find out what applies.⁵ Allow up to ten business days for successor trustee review, noticeably longer than the routine two-to-five-day window.

Keeping the Certification Current

A certification is not a one-time filing. You are obligated to submit a new form whenever something changes that would make the existing one inaccurate. Common triggers include adding or removing a trustee, a trustee’s death or incapacity, a change in the trust’s revocable or irrevocable status, and amendments to trustee powers.² A revocable trust that becomes irrevocable, typically when the grantor dies, also triggers the need for a new EIN from the IRS, so the tax identification number on the certification will need updating too.¹

Changing a trustee’s name or address does not require a new EIN, but you should still refile the certification so the bank’s records reflect reality.

What You Are Actually Signing

The certification is a legal declaration. Misrepresenting your authority, overstating the powers the trust grants, or falsifying trustee information is a crime. Federal law makes it an offense to knowingly make a false statement to a financial institution, punishable by a fine of up to $1,000,000, up to 30 years in prison, or both.⁶

Beyond criminal exposure, a transaction the bank knows was entered into outside the scope of the trust is not enforceable against the trust’s assets, and beneficiaries keep their own right to sue a trustee who mismanages assets.⁷ The representations section also binds you to file a new form whenever the trust is amended or trustees change; sitting on outdated paperwork can be treated as misrepresentation once the bank relies on it.

One thing the bank generally cannot do is demand the full trust agreement just to open an account. The certification exists precisely so beneficiary and distribution details stay private. What the bank can request is excerpts addressing the trustee’s identity and powers for the transaction at hand, which sometimes happens with large or unusual transactions or when something in the certification looks inconsistent with other records.⁸ If that happens, you can hand over just the relevant pages.

1
Internal Revenue Service. When to Get a New EIN
2
Merrill Lynch. Trustee Certification Form
3
Bank of America. Requesting a Medallion Signature Guarantee
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Bank of America. Estate Services
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Bank of America. Steps to Take When a Loved One Passes Away
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1014 – Loan and Credit Applications Generally
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California Legislative Information. California Code PROB 18100.5 – Certification of Trust
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Virginia Code Commission. Code of Virginia – Certification of Trust