Irrevocable Trust Successor Trustee docs -- PA

[jpass76]

State of PA -- in a dispute between 2 legal advisors.

Irrevocable trust. Original grantor/trustee has resigned. Son who was listed as successor trustee was appointed.

Lawyer who did this for them provided signed notice of resignation from the original trustee and signed acceptance from the successor. The laywer claims that they do not need to be notarized because the original trust documents did not state that they had to be.

This seems wrong. Can someone elaborate on whether they need to be notarized or not.

 

[FlyingRon]

What do you think notarization does? All it does is certify the identity of the person signing. It doesn't confer any special validity on the document. Trusts and wills are not required to be notarized in Pennsylvania. That is not true in all states. It's sometimes advised to get them notarized anyhow in case you need to do something with them in a state where such notarization is customary or required.

 

[TrustUser]

notarization is extremely cheap insurance - i would get them notarized, if possible

gosh, most lawyers are gonna have someone in their office who is a notary

 

[TrustUser]

as far as conferring any special validity, i will have to play devil's advocate on that statement.

notarization is proof that the person signing the document is the person supposed to be signing the document

if somebody were to challenge the validity of the document with the argument that there was a fraudulent signature, the notarization would indeed confer a lot of special validity

i know california doesnt require a notary for a will (at least they didnt use to). but i think anyone who does not get a will notarized is an absolute fool !!

of course, i think very little of wills, to begin with. but if you are gonna do one, get the dang thing notarized.

 

[FlyingRon]

notarization is proof that the person signing the document is the person supposed to be signing the document

Which is exactly what I said. Some people think that notarization elevates a document beyond that however.