First, a clarification. If your bank requests that a trustee execute and submit a Certification of Trust form, and the trustee instead offers to provide the entire trust instrument, your bank is not required to accept the entire trust instrument. In fact, in most cases, accepting the entire trust instrument may not be desirable, since doing so could expose your bank to future allegations that it misinterpreted one or more provisions in the trust instrument.

However, in some instances, it would be appropriate to demand a copy of the entire trust instrument — for example, to fulfill your Customer Identification Program (CIP) and BSA/AML monitoring and reporting responsibilities if there are additional concerns regarding the trust’s account. Illinois law permits you to request the entire trust instrument provided that the request is made in “good faith.” The law automatically deems such a request to be in good faith when it is made “for purposes of complying with applicable federal, state, or local law . . . .”

If you do request a copy of a full trust instrument, we recommend that you document the reasons for making the request, including (if applicable) the applicable federal, state or local law that precipitated the request, and then maintain this documentation in the account’s file.

For resources related to our guidance, please see:

• Trusts and Trustees Act, 760 ILCS 5/8.5(h) (“A person making a demand for the trust instrument in addition to a certification of trust or excerpts is liable for damages if the court determines that the person did not act in good faith in demanding the trust instrument. A person required to examine a complete copy of the trust instrument for purposes of complying with applicable federal, state, or local law, a person acting in a fiduciary capacity with respect to a trust, and the Attorney General’s Charitable Trust Bureau are deemed to be acting in good faith when demanding a copy of the trust instrument. . . .”)