Washington County Certificate of Trust Form (Maine)

All Washington County specific forms and documents listed below are included in your immediate download package:

Certificate of Trust Form

Washington County Certificate of Trust Form

Fill in the blank form formatted to comply with all recording and content requirements.
Included Washington County compliant document last validated/updated 6/6/2024

Certificate of Trust Guide

Washington County Certificate of Trust Guide

Line by line guide explaining every blank on the form.
Included Washington County compliant document last validated/updated 11/18/2024

Completed Example of the Certificate of Trust Document

Washington County Completed Example of the Certificate of Trust Document

Example of a properly completed form for reference.
Included Washington County compliant document last validated/updated 11/1/2024

When using these Certificate of Trust forms, the subject real estate must be physically located in Washington County. The executed documents should then be recorded in the following office:

Registry of Deeds

85 Court St / PO Box 297, Machias, Maine 04654

Hours: 8:00 to 4:00 Monday through Friday

Phone: (207) 255-6512

Local jurisdictions located in Washington County include:

  • Addison
  • Baileyville
  • Beals
  • Brookton
  • Calais
  • Cherryfield
  • Columbia Falls
  • Cutler
  • Danforth
  • Dennysville
  • East Machias
  • Eastport
  • Grand Lake Stream
  • Harrington
  • Jonesboro
  • Jonesport
  • Lambert Lake
  • Lubec
  • Machias
  • Machiasport
  • Meddybemps
  • Milbridge
  • Pembroke
  • Perry
  • Princeton
  • Robbinston
  • Steuben
  • Topsfield
  • Vanceboro
  • Waite
  • Wesley
  • Whiting

How long does it take to get my forms?

Forms are available immediately after submitting payment.

How do I get my forms, are they emailed?

Immediately after you submit payment, the Washington County forms you order will be available for download directly from your account. You can then download the forms to your computer. If you do not already have an account, one will be created for you as part of the order process, and your login details will be provided to you. If you encounter any issues accessing your forms, please reach out to our support team for assistance. Forms are NOT emailed to you.

What does "validated/updated" mean?

This indicates the most recent date when at least one of the following occurred:

  • Updated: The document was updated or changed to remain compliant.
  • Validated: The document was examined by an attorney or staff, or it was successfully recorded in Washington County using our eRecording service.
Are these forms guaranteed to be recordable in Washington County?

Yes. Our form blanks are guaranteed to meet or exceed all formatting requirements set forth by Washington County including margin requirements, content requirements, font and font size requirements.

Can the Certificate of Trust forms be re-used?

Yes. You can re-use the forms for your personal use. For example, if you have more than one property in Washington County that you need to transfer you would only need to order our forms once for all of your properties in Washington County.

What are supplemental forms?

Often when a deed is recorded, additional documents are required by Maine or Washington County. These could be tax related, informational, or even as simple as a coversheet. Supplemental forms are provided for free with your order where available.

What type of files are the forms?

All of our Washington County Certificate of Trust forms are PDFs. You will need to have or get Adobe Reader to use our forms. Adobe Reader is free software that most computers already have installed.

Do I need any special software to use these forms?

You will need to have Adobe Reader installed on your computer to use our forms. Adobe Reader is free software that most computers already have installed.

Do I have to enter all of my property information online?

No. The blank forms are downloaded to your computer and you fill them out there, at your convenience.

Can I save the completed form, email it to someone?

Yes, you can save your deed form at any point with your information in it. The forms can also be emailed, blank or complete, as attachments.

Are there any recurring fees involved?

No. Nothing to cancel, no memberships, no recurring fees.

The Maine certification of trust falls under the Maine Uniform Trust Code and is codified at 18-B M.R.S. 1013.

Under the statute, "Instead of furnishing a copy of the trust instrument to a person other than a beneficiary, the trustee may furnish to the person a certification of trust" (18-B M.R.S. 1013(1)). A trustee doing business on behalf of a trust generally provides a certificate as proof of his/her/their authority to act.

As an abstract of the trust instrument, the certificate contains only essential information relevant to the transaction at hand, allowing the trust instrument to remain private. For trustees not wishing to disclose the identity of persons having a beneficial interest in the trust, the certificate is a useful alternative to providing the trust instrument.

The certificate requires specific information about the trust, including the name and date of the trust instrument, the trust's taxpayer identification number, and whether the trust is revocable or irrevocable. It includes the trust's settlor, who is "a person, including a testator, who creates or contributes property to a trust" in addition to each acting trustee's name and address (18-B M.R.S. 103(14)).

A lawful certificate also requires a description of the trustee's powers as they relate to the transaction at hand. Since certificates are usually presented in real estate transactions involving trust property, they also require a legal description of the real property in the trust. The certificate includes the name by which the trust will hold property.

If there is more than one trustee, the certificate presents the names of each trustee who is authorized to authenticate documents, and whether all or fewer than all are required to exercise trustee powers.

Finally, the certificate requires 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" (18-B M.R.S. 1013(3)). Representations are deemed correct, and a recipient of a certification of trust is not liable for acting on the information contained within (18-B M.R.S. 1013(6)).

Recipients may ask the trustee for excerpts from the trust instrument that designate the trustee and authorize the trustee to act in the transaction at hand, but requesting the entire trust document opens them to liabilities as set out in 18-B M.R.S. 1013(8).

Certificates can be signed by any trustee (18-B M.R.S. 1013(2)). If recording, submit the certificate in the county in which the real property subject to the transaction is situated.

Trust law can be complicated, so contact an attorney with questions about using a certificate of trust or other related issues.

(Maine COT Package includes form, guidelines, and completed example)

Our Promise

The documents you receive here will meet, or exceed, the Washington County recording requirements for formatting. If there's an issue caused by our formatting, we'll make it right and refund your payment.

Save Time and Money

Get your Washington County Certificate of Trust form done right the first time with Deeds.com Uniform Conveyancing Blanks. At Deeds.com, we understand that your time and money are valuable resources, and we don't want you to face a penalty fee or rejection imposed by a county recorder for submitting nonstandard documents. We constantly review and update our forms to meet rapidly changing state and county recording requirements for roughly 3,500 counties and local jurisdictions.

4.8 out of 5 - ( 4434 Reviews )

James S.

November 21st, 2024

Forms used, created quitclaim deed that the county accepted without a second look (turns out they see deeds.com forms regularly via erecording and in person). Will be back for any real estate related forms I need and they carry. Will always be my first stop. Also, will use erecording next time, mad I didn't see it this time.

Reply from Staff

Thanks for the kind words James, glad we could help. Look forward to seeing you again.

Thomas G.

November 21st, 2024

Wasn’t what I expected

Reply from Staff

Sorry to hear that your expectations were missed. Your order has been canceled. We do hope that you find something more suitable to your expectations elsewhere. Do keep in mind that purchasing legal forms should not be an exploratory endeavor.

Jimmy P.

November 20th, 2024

They sent me everything I would need to do this. Easy purchase -Easy download. Great!! I'll be back here for all my document needs.

Reply from Staff

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Jeffrey G.

March 9th, 2023

Transaction went smoothly. The forms in the package were just what was needed.

Reply from Staff

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SHERRI B.

December 14th, 2021

World class forms and service. Downloaded and prepared the deed in minutes. Used the recording service (digital), so convenient.

Reply from Staff

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Kathryn C.

February 14th, 2022

The transfer deed documents are laid out the way county offices need, but I don't like the requirements so I'm going to leave a bad review.

Reply from Staff

Well, thanks we guess.

Andrew B.

January 3rd, 2022

Very easy to use and I appreciate the fees being charged after the submission.

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June 3rd, 2021

The team is very responsive and gets the job done. Thank you.

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Altaray S.

January 14th, 2019

Really fast turn around time, and was provided exactly what I was looking for this time. This is my first experience with this site. It would have been cool to also get a document depicting/describing a property line, but like I said before, exactly what I was looking for this time.

Reply from Staff

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Shannon D.

November 4th, 2020

Extremely easy site to use. We had our document e-recorded the same day and we didn't have to make a trip downtow!

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May 18th, 2021

ive been looking for this information thank you .

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April 22nd, 2020

Very easy to do. Got papers I was needed very quickly. Thank you

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October 28th, 2020

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December 23rd, 2020

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September 2nd, 2020

I was counting on deeds.com to help me with a closing I was working on. I stumbled with the instructions but when I recovered there were no problems. The instructions were helpful and the deeds etc. were just what I needed. I give deeds five stars. I am 76 years old and when the application asks for the user's name I always think they want my name. WRONG. I am trying to learn computer speak.

Reply from Staff

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