Essex County Certificate of Trust Form (Virginia)
All Essex County specific forms and documents listed below are included in your immediate download package:
Certificate of Trust Form
Fill in the blank form formatted to comply with all recording and content requirements.
Included Essex County compliant document last validated/updated 5/20/2025
Certificate of Trust Guide
Line by line guide explaining every blank on the form.
Included Essex County compliant document last validated/updated 6/3/2025
Completed Example of the Certificate of Trust Document
Example of a properly completed form for reference.
Included Essex County compliant document last validated/updated 5/19/2025
The following Virginia and Essex County supplemental forms are included as a courtesy with your order:
When using these Certificate of Trust forms, the subject real estate must be physically located in Essex County. The executed documents should then be recorded in the following office:
Clerk of Circuit Court
305 Prince St / PO Box 445, Tappahannock, Virginia 22560
Hours: Monday - Friday 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM
Phone: (804) 443-3541
Local jurisdictions located in Essex County include:
- Caret
- Center Cross
- Champlain
- Dunnsville
- Hustle
- Laneview
- Loretto
- Millers Tavern
- Tappahannock
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 Essex 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 Essex County using our eRecording service.
Are these forms guaranteed to be recordable in Essex County?
Yes. Our form blanks are guaranteed to meet or exceed all formatting requirements set forth by Essex 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 Essex County that you need to transfer you would only need to order our forms once for all of your properties in Essex County.
What are supplemental forms?
Often when a deed is recorded, additional documents are required by Virginia or Essex 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 Essex 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.
Signed by a currently acting trustee, a certification or certificate of trust under Va. Code Ann. 64.2-804 is a document summarizing a trust in lieu of the trust instrument, and contains certified statements affirmed by the trustee in the presence of a notary public. The document confirms the existence of the subject trust and the trustee's capacity and relevant powers, and is presented in support of a transaction involving trust property.
A certificate of trust is frequently recorded alongside a trustee's deed or acquisition of real property by the trust, though recording of the document is not required by Virginia Code. Instead of disclosing the settlor's estate plan by providing the entire trust instrument, the certificate allows a trustee to provide parties outside of the trust arrangement (anyone who is not a trust beneficiary) only the essential information necessary to conduct the business at hand. Recipients of a certificate "may assume without inquiry the existence of the facts contained" within it ( 64.2-804(F)).
Requirements of a certificate include statements that the trust exists and that it has not been revoked or modified in a way that would invalidate the contents of the certificate. The form presents basic information, such as the trust's name and date; the identities of the settlor and the current trustee; the trust's identification number; and the name by which property is titled to the trust. In addition, the document identifies anyone who can revoke the trust and, if there are co-trustees, the specifications for authenticating documents relating to the trust.
Further, the document enumerates the powers of the trustee pertaining to the transaction for which the certificate is presented. These may include powers under the Uniform Trust Code, codified at 64.2-7 of the Virginia Code. Recipients of a certificate can also request excerpts of the trust instrument and any amendments thereto that designate the trustee and establish these powers.
Consult a lawyer with questions about trusts and certifications of trust in Virginia.
(Virginia COT Package includes form, guidelines, and completed example)
Our Promise
The documents you receive here will meet, or exceed, the Essex 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 Essex 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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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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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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catheirne o.
January 10th, 2019
Easy to use!
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Joseph R.
February 17th, 2021
So easy to use. I like the way they kept me informed to the progress being made on my filing. If the occasion occurs I'll definitely use them again.
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brian t.
December 19th, 2020
The docs were precise and accurate for my specific needs. I greatly appreciated the accompanying forms and instructional guidance to help make the use of the forms direct and easy to complete. Equally important, I was not suckered in to get a great price for the docs I needed only to be led to expensive subscriptions or additional fees. Very impressive and professional site.
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Jan K.
August 21st, 2019
Very simple and easy, quick!
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Ron D.
June 2nd, 2024
The State form I chose was valid and accurate. However, I found the ability to enter information was inadequate and difficult. Converted the form to a Word document and was then able to enter the information I needed to.
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Ralph H.
May 13th, 2019
It had all the info I was looking for!
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rosie s.
March 24th, 2019
Very please with the service
Thank you!
Sherilynne P.
May 21st, 2019
I am delighted with the form. I just had to go through so much time and expense in order to use it. First, from your site I downloaded Adobe Acrobat. It totally compromised my computer. I had to get a computer expert to walk me through deleting adobe, and put a substitute on in order to use the form. That was an expense of $60.00. Then after that I still had a hard time getting the program to work, as the substitute program would not accept my e-mail address and I finally had to get someone on line to help me access that. I found it was a $$30.00 charge for the substitute. After fighting these lovely roadblocks, I was finally able to fill in the only form I needed and print it off. Took me two days to accomplish that. Why on earth do you offer adobe when it can compromise a computer so badly? Dealing with my husbands death and then having to deal with this, just one of many deterrents, well let's put it this way, it did not make my two days.
Thank you for your feedback. Sorry to hear of your experience. Our documents are Adobe PDFs because PDF is the standard for digital documents, most computers have Adobe Reader installed, and it (Adobe Reader) is free.
Lloyd T.
September 13th, 2023
Example deed given did not apply to married couples as joint owners with both being grantors. The example and directions also did not show how to write more than one grantee as equal grantees. Both would have been helpful when husband and wife are granting their property to their children equally. Also when attaching the exhibit A with the property description the example did not say "see exhibit A"in the property description area, so I didn't write that. Luckily the recorder of deeds allowed me to write it in. I think directions and examples for multiple scenarios would be helpful.
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Vickey W.
February 5th, 2021
Your company was great, you all walked me through every step of the process. With the pandemic and the inability to go into the DC Recorder of Deeds office. I look forward to working with you in the future.
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Tracy E.
December 19th, 2020
This is so convenient. Thank you.
Thank you!
Michael T.
October 17th, 2019
Good site. Two things to note.
1. The Documentary Transfer Tax Exemption sheet, the word "computer" is used when I think it should be "computed" Error in state form?
2. The California Trust Guide could have a watermark which is less distracting. Kind of hard to read the print with the DEEDS.COM logo so prominent.
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