Lancaster County Certificate of Trust Form (Pennsylvania)

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

Certificate of Trust Form

Lancaster County Certificate of Trust Form

Fill in the blank form formatted to comply with all recording and content requirements.
Included Lancaster County compliant document last validated/updated 10/1/2024

Completed Example of the Certificate of Trust Document

Lancaster County Completed Example of the Certificate of Trust Document

Example of a properly completed form for reference.
Included Lancaster County compliant document last validated/updated 3/4/2025

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

Lancaster County Recorder of Deeds

50 North Duke St / PO Box 1478, Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17608-1478

Hours: 8:30am - 5:00pm Monday - Friday / Recording until 4:30pm

Phone: (717) 299-8238

Local jurisdictions located in Lancaster County include:

  • Adamstown
  • Akron
  • Bainbridge
  • Bart
  • Bausman
  • Bird In Hand
  • Blue Ball
  • Bowmansville
  • Brownstown
  • Christiana
  • Columbia
  • Conestoga
  • Denver
  • Drumore
  • East Earl
  • East Petersburg
  • Elizabethtown
  • Elm
  • Ephrata
  • Gap
  • Goodville
  • Gordonville
  • Holtwood
  • Hopeland
  • Intercourse
  • Kinzers
  • Kirkwood
  • Lampeter
  • Lancaster
  • Landisville
  • Leola
  • Lititz
  • Manheim
  • Marietta
  • Martindale
  • Maytown
  • Millersville
  • Mount Joy
  • Mountville
  • Narvon
  • New Holland
  • New Providence
  • Paradise
  • Peach Bottom
  • Penryn
  • Pequea
  • Quarryville
  • Reamstown
  • Refton
  • Reinholds
  • Rheems
  • Ronks
  • Silver Spring
  • Smoketown
  • Stevens
  • Strasburg
  • Talmage
  • Terre Hill
  • Washington Boro
  • West Willow
  • Willow Street
  • Witmer

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

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

What are supplemental forms?

Often when a deed is recorded, additional documents are required by Pennsylvania or Lancaster 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 Lancaster 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.

Find the laws regarding certificates of trust at section 7790.3 of the Pennsylvania Statutes.

A trustee is a person or entity who holds title to a trust's assets on behalf of a settlor. Trustees use an official document called a certificate of trust to validate the trust's existence and confirm their authority to act on its behalf.

In order to facilitate transactions dealing with real property in a trust, lenders may require the trustee to furnish a certificate of trust. Third parties may also request a certificate to confirm the trustee has the authority, for example, to transfer real property out of the trust and to them.

The certificate presents essential information about the (unrecorded) full trust instrument, while protecting the confidentiality of its specific details. A recipient of a certificate may still request copies of certain sections of the trust instrument, particularly those establishing the appointment of a trustee and the trustee's powers, as well as amendments to the trust, but the request opens up certain liabilities, as enumerated in P.S. 7790.3(e),(h).

Section 7790.3 governs the contents and effect of the certificate. Requirements of the certificate include basic information such as the name of the settlor of the trust, the type of trust, the taxpayer identification number assigned to the trust, the acting trustee's name, and the relevant powers of the trustee. The trustee executes and signs the certificate and submits it for recording in the county in which the real property with which the trust is concerned is located.

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

Our Promise

The documents you receive here will meet, or exceed, the Lancaster 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 Lancaster 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.

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December 2nd, 2020

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January 1st, 2021

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July 20th, 2019

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April 22nd, 2021

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