Fill and Sign the Preparing a Certificate of Trust Virginiathe National Law Review Form

1 CERTIFI CATE O F T RUST E XISTENCE A ND A UTHORITY I, A tt orney N ame , d o h ereby s tate a nd d eclare: l . I am an attor ney licensed to pra ctice law in the Commonwealth of V irginia. 2 . That on the _________ day of ___________ , _____ , I prepared a RE VOCABLE LIV ING TRUST with acc ompanying Pour-Over Wills for XXX and YYY, which documents we re executed on the _________ day o f _ ______ ____, _ ____ . 3 . S aid d ocuments a re s till i n f orc e a nd e ffect. 4 . That the fol lowing provisions may be relied upon as a st atement of material matters set forth within the Trust by an yone dealing with the Initial Trustees or any Successor Trustees. 5 . I d ec lare t he f oregoing s tatements t o b e t rue a nd c orrect.Da ted t his _ ___ d ay o f _ _____________, _ ____ . _ ___________ _______________________ A ttorney N am e , A TTORNEY A T L AW THIS CERTIFIC ATE OF TRUST EXISTENCE AND AUTHORITY , is signed on th is _________ day of ________ ___, _____ , in the City of Ri chmond, Virginia by XXX and YYY, the Settlors and the original Tr ustees. The te rm "Trustee" includes Trustees and successor Trustees. Whereve r the context req uires, the singular includes th e plural, and th e masculine includes the feminine and neuter. The na me of this trust shall be ZZZ REVOCABLE LIVING TRUST DATED _____________.I . SETTLORS’ POWERS: The Settlors, or the survivor of them re serve the right at any time or from time to time to amend or re voke this Trust in whole or in pa rt, and to add, substitute or re move any trust property. The Sett lors reserve the right to add property t o t his T ru st b y W ill. II. TRUSTEES’ POWERS: The Tru stee shall have all of the po wers set forth in Virginia Code section 64.1-57 as in effect on th e date hereof, the provisions of which are hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference. The Trustee shall also have the following powers, which are in addition to all common law and statutory powers, and in addition to all other powers granted to 2 th e Truste e by this Trust, which shall continue after the termination of any of the trusts created by this Trust for the purpose of the di stribution of all or any portion of the trust property, and which may be exercised at any time by the Trustee wi thout a p proval f ro m a ny c ourt: A. To purchase or sell at public or private sale, or to ex change, gra nt options to pu rchase, lease, pledge, im prove, repa ir, manage, insure, operate, control, and mortgage, in such manner and on such terms as the Trustee in it s sole discretion may deem advisable, any property, rea l or personal, which at any time may constitute a p art o f t he t rust p roperty.B. To purchas e any assets from each Settlor’s estate at fa ir market value in such quantities as the Trustee de ems advisab le, and to loan al l or a portion of the trust propert y to each Settlor’ s testamentary estate, up on such term s and in such amount as the Trustee deems advisable, a nd w ith o r w ithout t aking s ecurity.C. To borro w money for any purpose, with or without se curity and to pledge securities or other property, without r egard f or t he t erm o f t he t rust(s).D. To execut e all deeds, assignments, leases or other instruments ne cessary or proper for the exercise of any power g ranted t o t he T rustee.E. To invest or reinvest in and retain as an investment any property which in the opin ion of the Trustee is su itable for the purposes of the Trust, although of a ki nd or an am ount which otherwise might not be regarded as a proper trust investment, and specifically, but without limit ation, to invest in one or more mutual fu nds, limit ed partnerships, and annuity funds; pr ovided, how ever, that either Settlor may specify in a wr iting deliv ered to any Trustee other than a Settlor, th e kind, amo unt and date of an y investment of all or pa rt of the Se ttlor's share of the trust property to be ma de by the Trustee and the brok er-dealer or registered representative through whom the investment shall be ma de.F. To enter into any withdraw al plan with any mutual fu nds authori zing payment to the Settlors, the survivor of them or to any other bene ficiary, of a specified 3 mo nthly or quarte rly amount payable from income di vidends, capital gains distributions, and, to the extent necessary, from the proceeds of liquidation of sh ares of any mutual fund, to enter into any accumulation plan with any mutual fund authorizing reinvestment of income dividends and capital gains distributions and permitting further periodic or other investments in any mutual fund, to dep osit shares of any mutual fund with a custodian or other agent, and to keep any or all securit ies constituting a part or all of the trust property in the name of a custodian or other agent pursuant to any wi thdrawal plan or accumulation plan. Neither th e custodi an nor other agent, nor the fund, nor it s transfer agent shall be under any duty to inquire b e yond the provisi ons of this subparagraph into the po wers or duties of the Trustee, and to that extent the pr ovisions of this subparagraph shall supersede any ot her provisions of this Trust. Neit her the custodian, no r other agent, nor the fund, nor its transfer agent shall be required to see to the application of any payments ma de pursu ant to any withdra wal plan, nor shall they assume the re sponsibility for the validity of this Declaration o f T rust o r a ny o f i ts p r ovisions. G. To vote either in person or by general or limited pr oxy, or to refrain from voting, any corporate stock for any purpo se not inconsistent with the trust(s) as wi ll in the sole discretion of the Trustee be most beneficial fo r the Settlors dur ing their lifetimes, and thereafter f or t he n amed b eneficiaries.H. To deposit any securities constituting a part or all of the trust property with or under the direction of any committee form ed to protect the securities and to pa rticipate in, consent to or carry out any reorganization , consolidation, merger, liquidation, re adjustment of the financial structure, or sale of the assets of any corporation or ot her organization and to ex ercise conv ersion and subscription rights, and hold any property received pursuant to any exchange, deposit, co nversion or subscription as part of the trust property.I. To keep any or all securi ties or other property co nstituting a part or all of the trust property in the name of ano ther person, or of a partnership or co rporation, or in the name of the Trustee, or of any 4 on e or more or them , without disclosing their fiduciary capacity. J. To determi ne how all receipts from any source and all disbursem ents for any purpose shall be credited, charged or ap portioned between the trust property and the income of the trust propert y, all without regard to ge neral rules of law, and specifically, but without li mitation, to make that dete rmination in regard to st ock and cash dividend rights, and all other receipts in r espect o f t he o wnership o f s tock.K. To purcha se or retain stock which pays dividends in wh ole o r i n p a rt, o therwise t han i n c ash.L. To pay, prosecute, extend, renew, modify, contest or co mpromise, upon such terms as the Trustee may determine, an d upon such evidence as the Trustee may deem sufficie nt, any obligatio n or claim, including taxes, either in favor of or against the trust property, or t he i ncome o f t he t rust p roper ty.M. To employ attorneys, banks, brokers, custodians, investment co unsel and other ag ents, and to delegate to th em duties, rights and powers of the Trustee, in cluding, amo ng others, the right to vote on shares of st ock constit uting a part or all of the trust property, for periods and purposes as the Trustee in its sole discretion may deem advisable. Any agent shall be el igible to be so employed and to receive and retain re asonable co mpensation or commissions for services re ndered, the same to be in addi tion to the compensation wh ich such Trustee would othe rwise be entitled to re ceive f or s er vices a s a T ruste e. N . To receiv e property in trust from the Settlors, or fr om a ny o ther p erson, w hether b y w ill o r o therwise.O. To determ ine whether and to what extent income of th e trust prop erty shall be transferred to the trust property with respect to the am ortization, depreciation or depletion of any of the trust property, all without re gard t o t he g eneral r ules o f l aw o n t he s ubject.P. To hol d, manage, invest and account for the principal of each trust under Article 3 either as a se parate fund or commingled with the principal of any or 5 al l of the other tru sts as a single fu nd, as the Trustee in its sole discret ion may determine , and if commingled as a singl e fund, making the division only upon books of ac count and alloca ting to each trust its proportionate pa rt of th e princip al and income of the common fund, and charging against each trust its proportionate part of th e common expens es, which expenses may be further ap portioned betwee n the income and principal of each trust u nder s ubpara graphs ( J) a nd ( O). Q . To buy, se ll and trade in securities of any nature, in cluding sho rt sales, on margin, and for such purposes ma y maintain and operate margin accounts with brokers, an d may pledg e any securities held or purchased by them with s uch b rok ers a s s ecurity f or l oans a nd a dvances.R. To allow the surviving spouse to occupy and use until his or her death, the home (or any interest th erein) used by either or both Settlors as a principal residence at the time of the decedent Settlor’s death. The surviving spouse shall not be required to pay rent for such use of the home, and upo n his or her direction, may have the Trustee sell such house and reinvest such proceeds a s t h e s urviving s pouse s o d irects.S. To elect the mode of payment which appears to be the most advantage ous to the trust and beneficiaries, if not previously el ected, of any emp loyee benefit plans or re tirement pl ans wherein the Trustee is named as be neficiary.T. To contin ue to participate in any business or other enterprise at the risk of the tru st estate and to effect in corporation, dissolution or other change in the form of o rganizatio n o f t he b usiness o r e nterprise.At an y time that either of the Settlors or any successor Trustee is acting as a Trustee, the sole signature of a Settlor or of a succe ssor Trus tee as a Trustee sh all be sufficient to execute pr oxies or powers of attorney, to vote any securities or other assets, to execu te stock powers or other endorsements of se curities or any other negotiable in struments registered, issued or drawn in the name of or to the order of the Trustee for the purpose of effectin g assignment, tran sfer or delivery, and to sign checks or orders to pay on deposits , accounts or credit balances of t he T rustee w ith a ny b ank, b anker, b roker o r t rust c ompany. 6 No person or corporation dealing with the Trustee shall be re quired to invest igate the Trustee's authority for entering into any tr ansaction or to see to the application of the proceeds of an y t ransaction.III. TRUSTEES: Any Trustee may resign at any time by giving a t least thirty (3 0) days written notice of its intention to do so , delivered pers onally or by regis tered mail to the remaining Trustee, or if non e, to at least one beneficiary. In the case of de ath, resignation , disability, or incapacity of any prior Trustee, establishe d by receipt of a written certificate to that effect fr om the prior Trustee’s physician, or if none, or if un available, from a licensed medical doctor of the succeeding Trustee’s own choo sing, the person or organization named in the next succeeding item of Article 16 A shall be the Trustee, and the person or organizat ion named in the fo llowing item of Article 16 A sh all be the succes sor Trustee. Any Trustee may in its discretion appoint a Co-trust ee. The last succ essor Trustee may appoint a su ccessor Trustee. Any successor Trustee shall be deemed to be in of fice and entitled to act upon delive ry of its written acceptance of this Trust to an acting Trustee, or if none, to at least one beneficiary. Any Co-trustee may delegate its powers in writing to th e other Trustee for a period not to exceed six (6) months, may revoke that design ation, and may successively renew it. Any successor Trustee shall have all the powers, immunities and discretions given to the original Trustee. No Trustee shall be re quired to give bond for the perf ormance of its duties, or if re quired b y l aw, n o s urety s hall b e r equired o n s uch b ond. IV. T RUSTEE A MENDMENT O F A DMINIS TRATIVE P ROVISIONS : T he Tr ustee ma y, upon giving notice to eac h beneficiary, amend, either in whole or in par t, any administra tive provision of this Trust which ca uses una nticipated tax liability, or conform the administrative prov isions of the Trust to the requirements of the taxing au thoritie s. The Trustee is, therefore, expressly authorized to ente r into any agreements with the Internal Revenue Se rvice or any other governmental body and to execute any documents as will, in the discreti on of the Trustee, tend to mi nimize t he t axes r esulting f rom t his T rust. V. CERTIFIED C OPIES: To the same effect as if it were th e or iginal, anyon e may rely upon a copy certified by a notary pu blic to be a true copy of this Declaration of Trust (and attachments, if any ). Anyone may rely fully upon any statements of fac t certified by one who appears from the original Declaration or a n e xecuted c oun terpart o r a c erti fied c opy t o b e t he T rustee. 7 VI. ESSENTIAL I NFO RMATION : A . P lace o f R esidence a nd N ames: 1. Cit y a n d S tate: R ichmond, V irginia.2 . Set tlors: _ _____ ____________________________.3. Ori ginal Trustees: ___ ____________ __________________.4. Fir st Successor Trustee: _______ ______________ of __ _ ____________ ___.5. Sec ond Successo r Trustee: ______________________ of __ _ ____________ __.RE PRODUCTIONS OF THIS EXECUTED ORIGINAL (WITH REPRODUCED SI GNATURES) SHALL BE DEEMED TO BE ORIGINAL COUNTERPARTS OF THIS CE RTIFICATE . Si gned a nd d ated t h is _ ________ d ay o f _ __________, _ ____ .__ _________________ __________XX XSe ttlor a n d T rustee_ _ _________________ __________YY YSe ttlor a n d T rusteeC O MMONWEALTH O F V IR GINIA )C O UNTY O F _ ________ ______) Personally ap peared above-named Settlors and Trustees, XXX and YYY, and duly acknowledged that they executed the preceding instrument as their free act and dee d, before me, this _________ day o f _ __________, _ ____ . (S EAL) ________________________________ N otary P ublic 8 My c om mission e xpir es:_ _______________________________