Stillwater County Certificate of Trust Form (Montana)

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

Certificate of Trust Form

Stillwater County Certificate of Trust Form

Fill in the blank form formatted to comply with all recording and content requirements.
Included Stillwater County compliant document last validated/updated 1/28/2025

Certificate of Trust Guide

Stillwater County Certificate of Trust Guide

Line by line guide explaining every blank on the form.
Included Stillwater County compliant document last validated/updated 5/19/2025

Completed Example of the Certificate of Trust Document

Stillwater County Completed Example of the Certificate of Trust Document

Example of a properly completed form for reference.
Included Stillwater County compliant document last validated/updated 3/6/2025

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

Stillwater County Clerk / Recorder

400 3rd Ave North / PO Box 149, Columbus, Montana 59019

Hours: 8:00 to 12:00 & 1:00 to 5:00 Mon-Fri

Phone: (406) 322-8000

Local jurisdictions located in Stillwater County include:

  • Absarokee
  • Columbus
  • Fishtail
  • Nye
  • Park City
  • Rapelje
  • Reed Point

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 Stillwater 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 Stillwater County using our eRecording service.
Are these forms guaranteed to be recordable in Stillwater County?

Yes. Our form blanks are guaranteed to meet or exceed all formatting requirements set forth by Stillwater 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 Stillwater County that you need to transfer you would only need to order our forms once for all of your properties in Stillwater County.

What are supplemental forms?

Often when a deed is recorded, additional documents are required by Montana or Stillwater 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 Stillwater 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 certification of trust in Montana is an affidavit containing sworn statements made by the trustee or trustees of a trust.

In a trust arrangement, a settlor entrusts property to a trustee for the benefit of a beneficiary. The trustee is the administrator of the trust's assets.

Instead of furnishing the trust instrument (an unrecorded document containing the trust's provisions, including the designation of the trust's beneficiary) the certificate is an abstract supplying only the relevant information required of the trustee in order to prove his authority to enter into a transaction on the trust's behalf.

Codified under the Montana Uniform Trust Code at 72-38-1013, the certification of trust contains basic information, such as the trust's name, date, settlor, and each trustee's name and address. The certificate verifies that the trust exists and that the trustee is authorized to act by providing a description of the trustee's powers relating to the pending action.

For example, a trustee may furnish a certificate when conveying real property held in a living trust. When used in real property transactions, a recorded certificate fulfills the requirements under Mont. Code Ann. 72-38-1111 for a valid transfer of real property by a trustee. When used for transactions involving real property, the certificate should also include the legal description of the parcel subject to the transaction.

The certificate must also designate whether or not the trust is revocable, and who, if any, has authority to revoke the trust. For trusts with multiple trustees, the document also specifies which trustees have signing authority, and how many are required in order to execute the trustee's powers. The certificate also cites the governing law under which the trust was formed.

Mont. Code Ann. 72-38-1013 provides that the certificate can be signed by any trustee, and signatures must be acknowledged if the document is recorded. When used in real property transfers under 72-38-1111, each acting trustee must sign before the document is recorded, and the certificate should meet all requirements of form and content for recording documents in Montana under 7-4-2636.

Recipients of the certificate can request, in addition, excerpts and/or later amendments from the trust instrument which name the trustee and confer the relevant powers upon the trustee. Requesting the entire trust document exposes the person making the request to certain liabilities ( 72-38-1013(8)).

Finally, the certificate contains a statement confirming that the trust has not been modified in any way that would cause the statements made within to be inaccurate, and the recipient "may assume without inquiry the existence of the facts contained" within ( 72-38-1013(6)).

Consult a lawyer with any questions and for professional guidance regarding certifications of trust in Montana, as each situation is unique.

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

Our Promise

The documents you receive here will meet, or exceed, the Stillwater 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 Stillwater 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 - ( 4557 Reviews )

Nigel S.

June 24th, 2025

Very simple to use. The 'completed examples' are very helpful.

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Robert H.

June 23rd, 2025

Great service, easy way to get accurate documents

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Thanks, Robert! We're glad you found the service easy to use and the documents accurate—just what we aim for. Appreciate you taking the time to share your experience!

Andre H.

June 19th, 2025

World class forms, great for someone like me that has no clue what I'm doing! Always better to let the pros do it than think one knows it all and gets themselves in trouble!

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David C.

February 7th, 2021

I found it pretty easy to navigate, all worked well. Need a better example of excise tax. Lastly, your link in the email to get to this page doesn't work :)

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Georgiana I.

January 25th, 2020

The deed itself was easy. I did notice that although the website says that the deed would exempt the house from probate, the deed clearly states that it might not. I hope that "might " is the operative word here.

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Kathleen M.

December 29th, 2023

I am very happy with this service

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Your kind words have brightened our teams day! Thank you for the positive feedback.

Shelly J.

May 23rd, 2022

There's nothing to say except it couldn't be easier.

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Sylvia Y.

September 2nd, 2020

Fantastic forms! So nice to have them formatted correctly for our county, the recorder here can be very picky with the margins. No issues at all.

Reply from Staff

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Mike F.

April 15th, 2023

The explanation sheet and example was very handy.

Reply from Staff

Thank you!

Coby A.

May 26th, 2021

great service and quick filing.

Reply from Staff

Thank you!

Julie S.

April 3rd, 2020

My county clerks office referred me to this website and I am so glad she did. This site is very easy to use, they do NOT try to sell you other things you don't need (or want) nor do they make you sign up for anything. Pick what you need and whalaa - there for you in seconds.
Thank you so much - will use again should the need arise.
JS

Reply from Staff

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Charles W.

December 26th, 2022

in one of the reviews, the person said they wished that there was more room allowed for use in the grantor section. the reply was that they were sorry but there was only enough room for what was there considering margins, etc. that is not true. on the forms i downloaded there was plenty of extra room at the top of the page (about 2 inches) that was not being used.

Reply from Staff

Thank you!

Neira S.

January 20th, 2019

No problem with Recorders Office using your document. It is now completed and recorded.

Reply from Staff

Thank you Neira, have a wonderful day!

Dorothy R.

August 27th, 2019

Actually, it was user friendly once I figured out where to go to get the forms.
Thank you.

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Carlene J.

August 12th, 2021

Great way to do business with Dc Government! I submitted my documents and received everything back and approved on the same day! No wait , no line! Lol

Reply from Staff

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